Love and War in London
by Simply-Buffy-Guild
Summary: This is a round robin fanfic written by the Simply Buffy neopets guild. A dark force rises in London, forcing the former Scooby Gang and the Angel Investigations crew to come together. [Complete]
1. chapter 1

Disclaimer: Nothing here is ours.

Rating: PG 13

Pairing: B/A, W/T, D/C, X/A, maybe others eventually

Timeline: Set one month after Not Fade Away, therefore a year and a month after Chosen, but in an alternate universe where Tara, Anya, and Wesley never died.

Author's Notes: This is a round robin fanfic done by the neopets guild Simply Buffy. Therefore each chapter will have a different author. So we are asking you to please review each chapter so all the authors can get some individual feedback. After talking about plots, we decided to do a future fanfic set after the end of Angel. It will be interesting to see where we end up. Most of the stuff in this opening chapter is based on Andrew's knowledge of the Scoobies whereabouts as heard in Damage. So here goes!

Prologue and Chapter 1

by buffygirl52789

Prologue

London, England

June 18th, 2004

The vampire dragged the unfortunate victim through the dirty alley in the bad part of London. It was well after midnight, and he had to hurry, or his master would have his head.

He lifted the unconscious body and entered an abandoned warehouse. Immediately he heard his master speak from the shadows. "You have brought the final sacrifice?"

The vampire nodded nervously. "Yes master."

"Please make haste. There is only a small window of time in which the ritual can be performed."

He quickly carried the victim over to where several other vampires were preparing the ritual. Nine other unconscious bodies lie bound and gagged in a circle, around a smaller circle of candles and sand. He quickly placed the body in the empty space and stepped back to watch. Another vampire lit the final candle, and turned toward their master. "It is ready."

In the shadows their master grinned evilly. Then the chanting began.

"In the name of the darkness I command you. Bring forth the one who will destroy the earth. The one who will vanquish the final drop of humanity. The one who will join the forces of darkness in controlling the world once more. Come forth!" shouted their master.

Immediately the room began to shake. The other vampires looked on in excitement. Then the circle of candles exploded into a ring of light. The sacrifices vanished, and their screams echoed into the darkness before dying. When the shaking stopped, and the light vanished, everyone turned their attention to the being standing where the circle had once been.

The master of the vampires grinned, still concealed by the darkness. "You have joined us, oh great one."

Chapter 1

June 20th, 2004

London, England

Rupert Giles sat in his study, organizing his many books onto the shelves of his new apartment. After a long year of contacting new slayers from around the world, he was finally settling down. Granted their was still much work to do, because a large number of the potentials-turned-slayers were right here in London, and still required training. But Giles was looking forward to some quiet time.

He jumped when the phone rang. He was surprised because as of an hour ago, he hadn't had service yet. He hurried over and picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Giles, it's about bloody time I got a hold of you," spoke the voice on the other end. Giles hesitated before identifying the voice.

"Morton?" he asked. Morton Whyler was an old colleague of his from the Watcher's Council. He was surprised to hear from him, because he presumed he had died in the explosion along with the others. Morton had once been very into spell casting, and had extensive knowledge of supernatural happenings.

"Yes. Listen, I have reason to believe that a dark power has risen in London," he said anxiously. "Something very evil."

Giles frowned. "How do you know this?"

"Well I sensed it of course. Anyone tuned in to the supernatural sensed the great disturbance that occurred nearly two days ago," he said. "I have been trying to reach you ever since."

Giles sighed. "What do you suggest we do about it? Do you have any other information?"

"Unfortunately no, that's where you come in. I suggest you begin gathering your slayers, because I think we have one hell of a battle ahead of us."

Rome, Italy

Dawn bounced in the door of the apartment, grinning from ear to ear. "School is so out," she said happily, dropping her heavy book bag, full of stuff she'd accumulated over her first year at school in Rome.

Buffy walked out of the bedroom and smiled at her sister. "Hard to believe it's been a year, isn't it?"

Dawn smiled, now relaxing on the couch. "It's been a very cool year though. What with the foreign country, and the sexy Italian boys, and all the new slayers and stuff," she said thoughtfully.

Buffy nodded in agreement before joining her sister on the couch. "Definitely." Their moment of reminiscing was interrupted when the phone rang. "I'll get it," Buffy said, moving quickly to the bedroom. "Hello?" Dawn heard her say. She slipped off the couch and began to unpack her book bag.

It had been a good year. It was great to be out of Sunnydale and away from all the constant apocalypses and whatnot. But Dawn was still lonely. She had a few friends, but no one really close. On the bright side, she had spent more time with Buffy this year than ever before.

She heard her sister hang up the phone, and Buffy came back into the living room, looking grim. "Pack a bag. We're going to England."

Brazil

Willow sat alone in the small apartment, surfing the net. She was looking for more training tactics to use with the new slayers, the group that she and Tara were training here in South America were getting bored with the old routine. She was interrupted when Tara came home.

"Hi baby," said the blonde, giving Willow a kiss before carrying the groceries to the kitchen. "What are you doing?" she called.

"Looking for more training routines to use with the girls," Willow called back. "They did really well today. Especially the new girl, Sam. I think she's turning into one of the best."

"I never thought I'd say this, but it's too bad there aren't more vampires around here. So they could get some experience," Tara said, reentering the room.

Willow started to reply, but then the phone rang. "I'll get it," Tara said, heading back to the kitchen. She answered, and there was a brief silence. Then she handed the phone to Willow. "It's Giles."

Egypt

Xander walked in the door of the brand new magic shop. "Wow Ahn, the place looks great," he said truthfully.

Anya came out from behind the counter, looking very pleased. "I think it will come to be very profitable."

Xander smiled. It was good to see Anya happy again.

Over a year ago, after the final battle in Sunnydale, it had taken some convincing for Anya to come with him after all the Scoobies had went their separate ways to find and train the new slayers. But she had finally agreed, and now, a year after they had arrived, she had opened her own magic shop again. Granted they were not _together_ together, they even had separate apartments. But they were friends, which was probably the most Xander could hope for after what he had done to her over 2 years ago.

The slightly awkward moment was interrupted when the phone rang. Anya grinned with glee. "My first phone call!" she squealed, running to answer it. "Egypt's Magic Box, how may I help you?" she said proudly. There was a brief silence. "Giles, what's wrong?"

Los Angeles

After the battle one month earlier, it had taken the former members of Angel Investigations a while to recover. They had all sustained injuries, but amazingly they had all survived. Now they were working on starting up the business again, out of a small building on LA's east side.

Today they were moving the things they had salvaged from the wreckage of Wolfram & Hart into the new office. Wesley and Gunn were carrying boxes, Illyria was becoming fascinated with a pencil sharpener, and Angel and Spike were arguing as usual.

"If you don't want to be here, then why am I still looking at you?" Angel said angrily.

Spike smirked at him. "Because I want to help the bloody helpless."

"Can you two please stop bickering, there is a lot of work to be done here," Wesley said, dropping a box on the new desk.

Spike made a face at him. "Well I'm not lifting a bloody finger to help you lot. You're damn lucky to have me here in the first place."

"Oh yes, we must thank God daily for that blessing," Wesley said sarcastically.

Before Spike could insult him back, Illyria spoke up. "What does this contraption do?" she asked, still examining the pencil sharpener.

Gunn raised his eyebrows at her. "It sharpens pencils. Hence the name 'pencil sharpener'."

"Angel, is the phone working yet? We need to get our new business cards distributed," Wesley said.

Angel picked up the phone and heard a dial tone. "Yup, we have service." Then he jumped when the phone rang the second he hung it up. Spike chuckled quietly from the corner. Angel ignored him and answered the phone. "Angel Investigations, we help the helpless." He frowned when he heard Giles's voice on the other end. Immediately thoughts that something happened to Buffy invaded his mind. "Is Buffy..."

"She's fine," Giles said, smiling at his obvious concern. "But I'm afraid we do have a bit of a problem. An old colleague of mine informed me that a great evil has risen here in London."

"Do you need my help?" Angel asked.

"Yes, it would be much appreciated."

"When do you want us to come? I can bring the whole team, Wesley, Spike-"

"Spike? Excuse me, Spike is dead."

Angel sighed. "Long story. But he's back now, he's been annoying me all year now," he said, glaring at Spike.

There was a brief silence on the other end. "Very well. It would be appreciated if you would come as soon as possible, I still don't know exactly what we're dealing with, but I am afraid it's very dangerous."

"We'll be on a flight soon. We'll have to get one tonight because of the sunlight."

"That's fine. Buffy and the others are on their way here as well."

Angel's stomach did a little flip at the thought of seeing Buffy again. "Great. Well I'll see you soon."

When they hung up Angel turned to face the others. "Wesley, call the airport, get us booked on a nighttime flight to London. Giles said some big evil has risen and they need our help."

Wesley looked concerned. "But what about the office? The new business?"

"It will have to wait. No one knows we're back in business yet anyway, it's not like we'll miss any customers."

Spike stood up. "Will Buffy be there?" Angel nodded. Spike sighed. Buffy still didn't know he was alive, and he wasn't sure how she would react. He had dreamed of the moment he would see her again many times, but he highly doubted that the meeting would go anything like his fantasies.

Illyria looked very confused. "What is Giles and Buffy?"

Later that day

Still LA

"Do we have everything?" Angel asked. They were preparing to go to the airport.

"Yes, I believe so. It's a shame we can't bring some weaponry, but with airport security these days we don't stand a chance," Wesley said.

"It's okay, Giles will have plenty." Angel lifted his duffel bag and headed for the door when, to his surprise, in walked his son. "Connor! Hey. Actually, we were just leaving," Angel said.

Connor glanced around at the others. "I just heard you had a new office. It's nice," he said, looking around. "Where are you going?"

"To England. Giles, Buffy's old watcher, called, some dark force rose in London a few days ago."

Connor perked up. "Then I'm coming with you."

Angel frowned. "Connor, you don't have to. And besides your parents-"

"I'm in college now. On break. I'll just tell them I went away with my friends. I want to come," Connor insisted.

Angel sighed. "I suppose you can. But we have to leave now, so you don't have time to get your things."

Connor shrugged. "It's okay. I survived a childhood in a hell dimension, I can manage without a change of clothes for a while." The rest of the group looked at each other. Angel and Wesley were the only ones who had memories of Connor, but the others had been filled in.

Angel smiled. "Okay. Well, let's go then," he said, trying to hide his pleasure at the fact that his son was coming along.

The next day

London, England

The next morning Buffy and Dawn entered Giles's apartment. "Giles!" Buffy said, hugging him tightly. She hadn't seen him very much this past year, and she'd missed him terribly.

"Willow! Tara!" Dawn squealed, as she ran to hug them. Buffy looked up and saw the two witches reuniting with her sister. Grinning, she rushed over to give them a hug. Meanwhile, Xander and Anya entered the apartment, bickering as usual.

"Anya, it's not my fault airplane food is crappy. And your store will survive without you," Xander said, sounding like...someone who'd just spent a few hours on a plane with Anya.

Anya frowned. "Those Egyptians can't be trusted. They will probably vandalize my store."

Dawn smiled. "Some things never change."

Xander and Anya stopped bickering long enough to reunite with the others. When everyone had settled in, Giles began to speak. "Well you all know why we are here. When everyone arrives, we should come up with a plan, perhaps some can do research while others can patrol the city-"

"What others?" Buffy asked. "Is Kennedy coming with some other poten-I mean, slayers?"

Giles hesitated. He had been wondering how Buffy would take the news that Angel was coming, not to mention Spike. "No. I called Angel in LA, he and his team should be arriving shortly."

Buffy stood up. "You called Angel?"

Giles paused for a moment. "We need all the power we can get here, if this dark force is as powerful as my colleague says."

Buffy sat down again. "I just wish you'd told me you were going to call him."

"Well I am sorry." Giles paused again. "I think there is something you should all know before they arrive."

He was interrupted when the door opened, and Angel walked in. "Hi everyone," he said, making eye contact with Buffy first. She was momentarily distracted when a teenage boy walked in behind Angel.

"Who's that?" Tara muttered to Dawn.

Dawn smiled at the boy. "I don't know, but he sure is cute."

Buffy opened her mouth to ask Angel who the boy was, but froze when Spike walked through the door.

"Spike?" she said incredulously. She continued to gape as Wesley and a tall black man entered the room, accompanied by a strange looking blue sort of demon thing. She sighed. There was definitely going to be interesting days ahead.


	2. chapter 2

Hi all this is Taralover (on here), aka AlysonHannigan on neopets, aka Tara to my friends. -waves- this is my poor attempt at chapter two of our guild fanfic, and if you all hate it, don't kill me. It was rushed. Not by Erin, so don't worry. Sorry it's a day late but I was really busy. Here ya go and again I plead: DON'T KILL ME !!!  
  
Chapter Two  
  
Spike looked at Buffy.  
  
"Yeah. 'S me. Don't go all wild or nothin'." he said sarcastically, noticing the same blank stares on all the Scoobies' faces.  
  
"But....but we saw you...and, and you weren't on the bus and we didn't see you after and you didn't even tell us you lived!" Dawn accused him, obviously confused, worried, and a little hurt that he wouldn't let her of all people know he was alive.  
  
"It's a long story," Angel answered her for Spike. "There's a reason why Giles called us here. Maybe we'll have time for stories if and when we defeat this thing." At the mention of the name Giles, Illyria remembered the conversation they'd had the day before.  
  
"What is Giles and Buffy?" she asked again, this time hoping to get an answer.  
  
"Oh...ah, I am Giles, and this is Buffy." he said brightly, gesturing to Buffy. The Slayer smiled and waved, having to idea who the freaky girl with blue hair and really bad dress sense was. But she knew better than to ask. Yet.  
  
Illyria turned to Connor, who was to her left and slightly behind her.  
  
"You did not tell me that Giles and Buffy is two humans." Turning to Angel, she continued to accuse them of, apparently, misinforming her. "You spoke highly of them and made it seem that they are important. Like higher beings. But they are just humans."  
  
"Well that's because I've never met them," Connor told her honestly."Last time Da...Angel saw them was before I was here." Conner somehow knew that Angel didn't want to be outed as a father yet, though he hadn't said anything about it.  
  
What the vampire wanted was to be able to keep thepossibilityy of a relationship with the blonde slayer. If he was going to have competition -Spike-, then he couldn't afford to upset Buffy. However, he promised himself that by the end of the little adventure, Buffy would know the truth.  
  
"Right then. If we're quite done with the chattering," Giles interrupted politely, "we'll all have time tointrudee ourselves and explain what exactly happened to whom over the past year. But for the time being, I say that we begin patrolling and researching immediately.We're not exactly sure what it is we're facing, so if you see absolutely anything out of the ordinary, it's safest to report it."  
  
The Scoobies couldn't help but roll their eyes, as Giles' expositions were more of a joke to them than they should have been.  
  
"I of course shall be here to conduct the research, as will Wesley.," he stated, looking at the former watcher turned rogue demon hunter. Wes nodded., and Illyria informed Giles that she wished to stay with the strange man who drank too much whiskey and called her a smurf. She didn't care about the strange looks she got from the former Sunnydale group.  
  
"She's strange. Even I think so, and I'm usually the strange one." Anya whispered to Xander, who shushed her.  
  
"Remember Demonology 101? Don't make fun of strangers with badly dyed blue hair who look like they're either from a sci fi movie." he whispered back.  
  
"Xander, do be quiet.This is quite serious and the more time we waste, the closer the enemy may be getting." The former watcher looked around the room, taking an inventory of who else he had to work with.  
  
"Dawn. You and....the boy...." he looked at Connor and apologized for not knowing his name.  
  
"Conner," he introduced himself, smiling politely.  
  
"Dawn, you and Conner are to stay also, look through the more common texts, while Wesley and I look through the more rare volumes. This leaves Buffy, Angel, Spike, Xander, Willow, Anya, and Tara and..." he gestured to Gunn. And you to patrol." Giles frowned. Gunn quickly introduced himself.  
  
He'd hoped to split the group into groups of two, so that more ground could be covered. However, two people may not be enough to take down such an evil, should they come across it. So he upped it to two groups of four. After a moment, he decided.  
  
"Buffy...you go with Spike and Angel and Gunn," he said slowly, clearly still debating the groups. "...which leaves Xander, Anya, Willow, and Tara to patrol together. Two witches and an ex demon (for knowledge) should prove quite efficient." he stated proudly.  
  
Willow, Xander, and Tara nodded, while Anya completely flipped out on Giles.  
  
"If we end up dead or hurt or ANYTHING, this is all your fault for even thinking that we couldn't protect ourselves Willow and Tara are witches, and Xander's strong and manly; so if we fail and die in an ally somewhere it's all your fault!"  
  
"I assure you, Anya, I will take personal responsibility for any physical harm caused to you." He knew it was safe to say that because Willow and Tara were powerful witches, and he knew they'd take care of her as much as themselves.  
  
The ex demon seemed to be satisfied, and nodded, still frowning and serious. She was going on a dangerous mission, in her eyes. Had the final battle in Sunnydale not registered in her mind at the time? the world may never know. All of a sudden she perked up immensely.  
  
"What are we waiting for?! Giles takes alresponsibility foror us getting hurt, AND we can chat while we look for whatever we're looking for. Not like we'll find it anyway." she stated happily and hopefully. She grabbed Tara by the arm, ignoring the evil death glare she received from Willow.  
  
"We have SO much to catch up on!"she squealed to Tara. "I want to tell my story first, but then you have to tell me absolutely EVERYTHING you've been up to this year!" she began dragging Tara towards the door, so she could have some girl talk with her ex fiance's best friend's girlfriend. In simpler terms, one of her best friends. Tara smiled sweetly, and waved goodbye to the rest of the gang.  
  
Xander and Willow both apologized for having to run out on everyone; there were two lovely young ladies wandering about outside who they needed to keep their eyes on, even if it was daytime. The redhead and her friend slipped out the door to join their friends.  
  
Once they left, everyone looked at each other, silent. Angel broke the silence.  
  
"Giles, are you sure it was a good idea to send them out alone? I mean....besides the fact that it's day so Spike and I can't follow them....you could've sent Buffy along," He made sure not to look at Buffy as he spoke.  
  
"I did what I needed to. There's access to the sewers not far from here, however there may be a few sunny spots." He grabbed two large blankets and handed them to the vampires. "I'm terribly sorry, but this is the best I can do for the time being...will the four of you be all right?"  
  
Giles knew it wasn't a good idea to put Spike (he still wasn't used to the platinum blonde vampire being alive....er...undead again) and Angel together, but he knew that if he had split Xander and Anya or Willow and Tara, there would have been arguments. And truthfully there wasn't time for arguments. They were wasting enough as it was.  
  
"We'll be fine, Giles. Stop worrying, point us in the direction of the sewers, and get with the researching." Buffy responded, looking around for weapons. Noticing that she was weaponless, as were the rest of them (except for a well hidden stake of course), he handed out axes and crossbows as if they were Halloween treats.  
  
After being given directions to the access to the sewer tunnel ("down the hill to the left is a cemetery. The firstmausoleumm to your right, in which a hole in the floor leads to the sewer. But be careful."), The vampires, the Slayer, and Gunn were on their way to look for evil. What they didn't have the heart to tell Giles (but realistically absolutely should have), was that it was hard to look for something that they didn't have a visual of. She left her cell phone with Dawn and demanded to be contacted the second they found something out.  
  
Dawn sighed. The day she got her sister's cell phone was the day where they were too far to call her friends. It figured. But on the other hand, there WAS a teenage boy sitting very close to her. And it helped that he was really cute. So she'd prefer to be there researching to calling her friends anyway. She sighed as Giles handed her a stack of books and explained to both her and Conner.  
  
"As of now, we aren't entirely positive what this demon looks like, or what it's called. Mr. Whyler has directed me towards ancient rituals. There are specific human sacrifices, and the ritual may or may not only be able to be held at a certain time. Anything you find that you think may be relevant, do not hesitate to ask Wesley or myself." He sighed. He was always researching, but this was beyond gloomy.  
  
He walked into the next room, where Wesley was already beginning to look through some books. He had been able to bring a couple with him, but Giles' collection seemed better. Illyria was looking at Giles' house, wandering from room to room. She had never seen a home belonging to someone so...British.  
  
"Your dwelling is strange. It smells strange also. But yet I find it comforting. Why?" she asked loudly. Giles looked up, not really positive why she was stranger than Anya, but decided to treat her a little more decently.  
  
"I'm not sure actually. Perhaps it may be....ah...reminiscent of your home?"  
  
"No. My home was different. I was respected by all...." she began to tell Giles about her dimension, and the ex watcher tried earnestly to pay attention so some of what she said as he looked through the books.  
  
In the first room, Dawn and Conner were staring blankly at their books.  
  
"I don't get why we have to do this. Buffy practically never lets me do any of the big research. And now all of a sudden, she's making me. Like jumping off a cliff; there aren't any steps."  
  
Conner smiled. "Well I don't do a lot of demon research myself. My family...well, it's a long story but I have another family that I live with andthey'ree like completely normal. So the only researching I do on a regular basis is studying for school. I mean, I used to be in on the fighting and the research and everything, but...."  
  
Dawn nodded and looked through her book. Then she looked back at Conner. "Might be easier if we share a book? If you miss something I'll catch it and if you miss something I'll catch it..." He pushed his chair closer to hers, the moved the stack of books, and pushed the open book between them.  
  
"This looks fun," Conner mumbled as they began reading.  
  
Tara giggled as Anya finished her story.  
  
"The Egyptian Magic Box? You really called it that?" Anya nodded happily.  
  
"Since the one in Sunnydale was destroyed I wanted to make a memorial to it. So I named the new store after it." Willow rolled her eyes and Xander shrugged. The redhead hadn't missed Anya so much as missed her best friend. But her lover was paying full attention to the demon turned human turned retailer, so she'd have to deal.  
  
"So what have you two been doing?" Anya asked Tara, completely ignoring Willow. Willow didn't like her, and she didn't like Willow. Both of them understood that, so neither of them complained. Anymore.  
  
"Willow trains potentials." the blonde witch stated proudly. It was obvious that She both loved and highly respected her red haired lover. "We were supposed to be in Sao Paulo? But we...um...ended up in Rio de Janeiro for a little while. It was really fun...I mean, all these teenagers from around the world? It's so cool. I think so anyway." she blushed. People never understood her.  
  
Anya nodded. "When I became a vengeance demon it was like that. I'd be in Oslo one minute and then poof! I'm in Beijing. With a ton of Chinese people. It's a whole new perspective on cultural experience." Xander looked at Willow with a 'what the heck is she saying' look, and Willow just shrugged. She was fixated on getting Tara detached from Anya.  
  
Moving up on Tara's other side, the redhead began a more serious conversation.  
  
"What are we going to do if we find this...thing? I mean we're not that powerful. Not like Buffy or Spike, or Angel...." She frowned. She really didn't want to find it. Tara put her arm around her lvoer and Anya let go of her, so Willow had Tara to herself finally. Xander walked alongside Anya. Not too close, but he really missed their relationship. He'd wait an eternity if it meant they could get back together.  
  
"Well, we could just walk around for hours and go back and tell him we didn't find anything..." Anya trailed off, hoping someone would go along with her.  
  
"I like that idea...I know England is supposed to be rainy...but...I'm kind of scared.." Tara trailed off. "But, but not that I think we should just walk around. Maybe if we walk and look a little where we think we know we won't find anything."  
  
"I concur. Not so much on the feeling creepy, but when Tara gets scared..." Willow turned and gave her sweetie a kiss. The blonde whimpered and rested her head on Red's shoulder. The two looked adorable, if not scared out of their minds.  
  
Anya, not liking watching them and being alone, slipped her hand into Xander's in an un - Anya like fashion. The foursome trudged on, hoping not to find anything scary and evil.  
  
---------------------------------------------- Okay. I'm stopping there cause I could probably go for another 5 pages. Whoever's up next, good luck!!!! 


	3. chapter 3

Hi this angelnbuffyforever at least to my fellow neopetters. And for those on fan fiction I'm lilsoccercutie66. I hope everyone enjoys this chapter, I had a blast writing it.

Chapter Three

Much to the dismay of the four Scoobies, they heard a struggle going on in a alley nearby. Tara turned to look at Willows freckled face, and found a very frightened girlfriend. She didn't want to take Willow into the alley, but knew they might not be able to handle whatever it was in the alley with just the three of them. They might be in serious need of some Wicca power, and Willow was the gal for the job. Tara squeezed her lover's hand reassuringly trying to give her confidence, as they walked in the alley way.

Meanwhile in the sewers, the uneasiness of the complicated triangle was apparent in the silence. Gunn was getting fed up with this, to him it was getting annoying, and in the way of whatever baddie they were going up against. They should be planning fighting strategies not brooding over the past. "O.k. listen you three, whatever relationships were in the past apparently aren't together at the moment, so lets stopping acting like we're in high school and kill these suckers," Gunn twirled his axe, and marched ahead leaving the love triangle to trail him.

Buffy was unaware of the looks that Angel, and Spike were giving her, she just kept staring at the ground. So many things were going around in her head, and she couldn't pick out a specific one. Seeing Spike again brought back feelings she did not want to go back to. She had told him she loved him the day the hellmouth went down along with Sunnydale. It was true that she loved Spike, but not as a lover, as a friend. Angel on the other hand was a whole different story that she wasn't about to think about.

Buffy snapped out of her thoughts just in time to get hit by something falling out of the air. She jumped back on her feet, and got into her fighting stance. Gunn kicked the vampire from behind sending it in the water. Angel took it from behind it's neck, and tied it with the rope Giles had provided them with. Buffy got the other rope up, and tied it's hand together. She caught the vamp wincing from how tight she was tying the ropes, and only grinned. "For a vamp you're a quite a wimp," Buffy knew that pun was lame, but she was out of the punning loop. She hadn't got the monthly punning magazine in awhile. She laughed at her own thoughts, and went on to his feet.

"Ya know luv if you kill the bastard before we get any information out of him, this whole captive thing will be just a waste of bloody time," Spike spoke harshly as he took over, and dragged the vamp to the nearest dark corner. He didn't want any interruptions while they were trying to get the information that they needed desperately.

Back at Giles Apartment, Dawn was trying not to fall for this new boy. She found though that she was failing miserably. They had stopped researching hours ago, now they were making small talk.

"So let me get this straight, you blew up a whole town?" Connor asked excitedly. Dawn had been telling him about all the apocalypses that she had lived through.

"Ya that would be the jiff. Sunnydale is officially no more. Oh, and ummm did I mention I'm not really human?" Dawn caught the confusion in Connor's face, and continued "Well I am, but I'm not. See these monks made me from a ball of energy. And like three years ago the bitch of a god named Glory tried to use me the key to get her back to her home. As you can see from the living me, she didn't succeed at least the getting back home. The portal opened, and Buffy my sister died," she laughed at Connor's face.

Sure she was still dealing with the whole ordeal, but mainly everyone just found it really amusing now.

"Wow, and I thought I had a strange life," Connor laughed, and thought back to his last couple of years. They were anything but ordinary, but he really didn't want to just spill everything to a complete stranger. He liked Dawn though, maybe even more than a friend, but he knew in a few weeks he would be back with his mom and dad. He just didn't want to get attached to someone who he might never see again.

"Ya, well that is life on the hellmouth for ya," Dawn now smelt his cologne, she could stay with this guy forever.

Xander was the first one to go into the alley way, and also the first one to get punched. He fell down hard on his ankle, trying to ignore the agonizing pain shooting through his ankle, he stood back up. He could hear Tara in the background saying one of her chants, while holding onto Willows hand. Xander then realized someone was missing, Anya. Where was she? Did she even come in with them? He soon found his answer when she knocked the Demon out with her purse. Xander looked down at the demon who was now right by his feet.

"Geese An, what the hell do you have in there, a whole brick house?" Xander laughed at his own goofiness, and stepped away from the green faced thing.

"Actually, you're pretty close. The weight when hit would actually be close to the weight of a house. I had Tara put a charm on it, for extra protection."

Tara and Willow ran up to them asking if they were all right, when everyone made certain they were they pulled out Anya's cell phone, and called Giles.

Xander took the phone before Anya had the chance to speak. "Giles much to your gladness we found something," after a second Xander answered him, "Well it has a green face, and has a strange symbol on it's left cheek," after several yes's from Xander he hung up.

"Well the good news is we can go back to the apartment," Xander smiled hoping they would be happy, but it faded as soon as Willow asked "And what is the bad news, which we all know there is?"

"Well we have to transport his body to the apartment as well," Xander rushed on with the rest of his sentence after seeing the very against looking faces of his friends,

"It won't be hard though, Giles promised. We don't even have to actually touch it. All we need to do is have Tara and Willow work their mojo, so this body can be transferred to the house," Willow immediately shook her head no, while Tara just let her head drop.

Tara knew Willow didn't feel all that comfortable performing magic, but she didn't see any other choice. They couldn't bring the body out in the view of the public.

"Will, we have no other choice. We can't bring him out in the streets, and risk him waking up, and endangering the public," Tara kissed her hand, and smiled at her girlfriend. Willow frown turned into a smile, and shook her had in agreement. After several minutes of words that neither Anya nor Xander could understand, the body was magically transported. Giles telephoned immediately after, confirming the body had arrived.

"Let's just hope we don't run into anything else on the way home," Willow said walking out into the crowded streets of London.

Angel was surprised at how quickly they got the vampire tied up. He was strangely very weak. A quality that wasn't common in vampires. Gunn proceeded to stick a knife to his throat, while Buffy started in with the questions.

"Who do you work for?" Buffy really didn't want to be the one to interrogate the vampire, but since no one else was stepping up, she supposed she would have to do it.

"Like hell I would ever tell you. I'll die before I leak out a word to your pretty blonde head," the vampire shouted out, getting a very unpleasant punch in the face from Angel.

"Let's try this again, who do you work for?" Buffy was getting pissed now. She had a terrible case of jet lag, and just wanted to fall asleep.

"I work for the all mighty one. The darkest creature you will ever encounter. When he gets word of what you're trying to do, he will have you dead with a snap of his dead finger," Buffy wasn't surprised, he heard this from many vampires before. How their leader was the almighty one, the greatest one of all. Yet they had never defeated her, she is still standing here, while they are in the wind being blown around as dust.

"Listen now, I'm up to here with your bullshit. A sleepy slayer is an unhappy slayer, and right now I am very unhappy. You don't want to see what I do when I'm unhappy," she tapped her fingers on her hips while waiting for an answer.

Giles and Wesley were busily tying up the demon to a steel bar in the back of the apartment. They had Connor and Dawn looking up the name of the demon. Suddenly without warning the demon became conscious again. Thankfully he was already securely tied. Giles nor Wesley could make out the language he was speaking making it extremely hard to find out any information about who he or she was, and what he wanted.

Well I hoped everyone liked it! Also good luck to the person who is up next!


	4. chapter 4

Hello everybody. This is iluvanimals772003 for all those who go on neopets. And Teardrop-of-Death for all on Hope you like the chapter.  
Disclaimer: I own nothing off Buffy or Angel sadly Joss Whedon still does and will probably hold the rights forever. :(  
  
Chapter Four  
  
"Is this it?" Dawn asked Conner holding up a picture of a demon that to her looked exactly like the one that was now in the apartment.  
"It sure does look like it." Conner replied examining the picture Dawn had found.  
"According to this the name of the demon is Skinaskia. It also says it speaks in umm...I think its called Keilinish." Dawn read from the book. "Have you ever wondered why these names are so difficult to pronounce?" Dawn asked looking at Conner.  
"Well I figured it was just because they wanted to make it harder for us to figure out how to defeat it. You know if your trying to pronounce the name you'll sort of forget the whole reason your looking it up anyway.But now that I actually think of it I have no idea." Conner answered.  
"Well your answer is better than mine. I just thought it was more stupid monks that tend to not like the rest of the human race." Dawn said."Though they say they are helping us you can never be too sure." She finished smiling.  
"Ok maybe we should get our information to Giles and Wesley now." Conner annouced, standing up from his seat at the table.  
"Yeah your right." Dawn said holding the book and standing up with the book open to the oage with the demon on it.  
  
"I don't give a damn what you'll do to me." The vampire spat. "I won't betray my master." "Ok your not getting it. You don't talk you end up turning into a pile of dust by a slayers best friend. And it's even worse when the slayer you're dealing with is tired and very very cranky, namely me. So if you value your undead life you better start talking." Buffy said holding her stake closer to the vampire's heart.  
"Your not getting anything more out of me! So if you want kill me already." The vampire said glaring at Buffy.  
"Why do you guys always have to be so darn stubborn?" Buffy asked no one in particular.  
"Buff I don't think we'll be getting anything ore from him so stake him and we can continue looking for clues." Angel said.  
"Your right. Well bye bye vamp." Buffy said pushing the stake through the vampire's chest. Where the vampire once was only a pile of dust remained.  
"Well let's get going then. Seems like he's got nothing else to say." Gunn said walking away. Buffy, Angel, and Spike followed him.  
  
"I forgot how tiring it was to fight a demon." "Umm..Ahn all you did was hit it with your purse." Xander said to the complaining ex-demon.  
"Xander carry me, my feet hurt too much to keep walking." Anya said sitting down on the sidewalk. With a sigh Xander picked Anya up.  
"Geez Ahn I thought you went on a diet." Xander said as the group continued to walk towards Giles's apartment.  
"Well I tried but the whole you can't eat everything you want to especially shrimp made me stop." Anya said to Xander.  
"They never di stop talking do they?" Tara asked Willow.  
"Well Xander does but Anya can go on and on about nothing forever." Willow replied.  
Tara giggled at Willow's response. "Hey I can see Giles's apartment from here!" Anya exclaimed. "And its not far at all! Xander since we're almost there you can put me down now."  
"Great." Xander said without enthusiasm.He gently put Anya back on her feet and continued walking down the street.  
  
"Yes umm...Wesley do you have any idea what it's saying?" Giles asked as the demon continued to thrash and yell in a weird tongue.  
" Not at all, but I think trying to keep it tied up is more important at the moment then we can try to decipher it's language." Wesley said ducking when the demon tried to punch him.  
"Good idea." "Giles! Wesley! We found out what it is!" Dawn yelled excitedly as she entered the room.  
"Yep it's a Skinasia or something like that." Conner said following Dawn into the room.  
"What he means is it's a Skinaskia and yippee for us it speaks in Keilinish." Dawn said in fake enthusiasm. "Oh and here's the book we found it in." Dawn added handing Giles a book called Rare Finds.  
"Well good work Dawn and umm...what was your name again?" Giles asked gesturing to the boy beside Dawn.  
"It's Conner." Conner replied with a small smile.  
"This living place of yours has nothing of interest in it." Illyria said plainly to Giles as she entered the now crowded room.  
"Umm..well maybe it's because your used to different items in a house." Giles explained to her.  
"I doubt that. It's most likely the fact that your living quarters is where only humans live. And humans are of no interest to me." Illyria said glancing at the demon that was currently trying to strangle Wesley.  
Giles caught her looking at the demon. "Illyria is it?" Giles asked then continued, not waiting for an answer. "Do you by chance speak Keilinish?" "No I do not speak a language by that name. What is that demon doing in this room?" Illyria asked gesturing with her hand to the Skinasia.  
"We are trying to get answers out of it about a powerful demon that has supposedly arisen in London. But as you can most likely see it speaks a different language than the one we're used to. Wesley you might want to step away from it. It looks ready to tear your head off if you get any closer to it." Giles finished going to help Wesley with the now very hostile demon.  
  
Well that's it for me. Sorry if some of the characters are a bit or really OOC but I had sort of a bit of trouble with this chapter probably because I'm not used to some of them. Well anyway good luck t owhoever is next! 


	5. chapter 5

[Hey everyone, nothing here to say except that its my turn to work the mojo  
on this fic, also, great work iluvanimals772003]  
  
Chapter Five

by buffyfan32578  
  
Dawn opened her eyes groggily, realizing, as she pulled her head up that  
her face was stuck to the page.Yawning she pulled her face and stared,  
uncomprehending at the open book, her eyes slightly  
unfocused. 'Skinasia, Connor, demon, cute boy, Keilinish, cute boy' scrambled  
thoughts rushed through her over-researched mind, finally focusing on the  
very cute boy next to her, his face still stuck in one of the books Giles  
had set them to researching in. Last night had ended, finally, when Wesley  
was able to translate the foreign language that the demon spoke, ending up  
with the demon giving up a name, Zinikila. They had been researching it  
since.  
"Whattimezit?" Dawn rubbed sleep from her eyes, almost falling out of the  
chair when she tried to stand.  
"Whaz it what?" Connor looked across the room at her, finally placing the  
book down and coming to sit by her, leaning back in the stiff chair.  
"Find anything on the Zinikila dude?" Dawn stretched her arms, looking over  
to Connor, who looked more sleep deprived than Buffy ever had.  
"Not one."  
  
" 'Lo? We're back! Got nothing but a big old green horny demon, which we  
sent to you, as I can see..." Xander stopped in the doorway, glancing  
nervously at the green demon, who was, scary as it might be, sitting on the  
couch drinking tea with Wesley. The two were talking (if that's what one would  
call the clicking noises being traded between Watcher and demon.) and the  
demon seemed quite at home, nodding thoughtfully once or twice. When they  
heard Xanders remark, they turned to him, tea in hand.  
"Ah, Xander. Willow, Tara, Anya. I believe we've had a little break through  
with our friend, Skinasia. It appears he was more frightened of us than we  
were of him. He, erm, says he knew a demon, who knew a demon who knew a demon who is trying to ... oh no, already has raised 'he who will be the  
destruction of the world as we know it'." he recited from a yellowing  
parchment. He scoffed, shaking his head. "Well, when have we not heard that  
one before, I ask you?" He shook his head again setting the paper on the  
table, along with his tea.  
By now the others had filed in, still eyeing the Watcher having tea with  
the demon as if it happened all the time.  
"The British and their tea," Xander muttered as Wesley poured himself and  
Skinisia more tea.  
  
Gunn glanced between the love triangle that walked in front of him now, as  
they traversed through the maze of sewers, occasionally stopping to make  
sure they were on the right track.  
The sun had long since set when Spike stopped at an exit, holding a hand  
up to caution the others. Quietly and stealthily, the vampire hoisted himself  
out of the sewer, Buffy, Angel, and lastly Gunn following him. Buffy  
recognized the place as an old warehouse where that cracked down on a pack of  
vamps a few weeks ago, she thought the place had been deserted for a while now,  
but judging by the smell, it wasn't. The smell of rotting corpses was  
exceptionally strong were they were, still cloaked in shadows.  
"God what is that smell?" Buffy hissed under her breath, but she really  
didn't want to hear the answer. Spike led the way, creeping through the  
shadows to the main part of the warehouse.  
What they saw was disturbing, in the most strict sense. A ring of bodies,  
some even children, were laid out before a throne that seemed to have been  
melden by an array of bones and skin, demon and human. On the throne was an  
even more disturbing sight. It was a demon, that was sure, for what else could it  
be? It's skin was stretched over its skull so tight, Buffy could almost see  
the muscles in its jaw working as he chewed a piece of human skin (ewww!).  
The face was covered in rigged bumps, niched and pockmarked from battles. His  
green eyes, which were flecked with gold, bulged from their sockets. His mouth  
extended a few inches, silver fangs protruding from his upper and lower  
jaw. The rest of his body was huge, but cloaked in a black robe.  
Buffy was happy to note that she recognized at least one thing in the  
room. Vampires. They formed a half-circle around their 'Master', all clothed  
in identical black robes and sporting half moon carvings on both cheeks and  
a triangle with an open and closed eye. Buffy withdrew a stake from her  
waistband and moved silently next to Spike, but he shook his head and pushed  
her back a few steps. She glared at him, but stood back anyway, which was  
thankfully the same time the huge demon spoke, his voice like nails on a  
chalkboard.  
"Kinting!" He called out, drawing out the 'g'. "Bring the sacrifice!"  
Forward stepped a vampire, carrying a baby swathed in a filthy blanket. The  
vampire set the baby inside the circle of dead people, more vampires coming  
forth to light candles around the child. The child had begun a loud wail that  
did disturb the vampires, in fact, some had begun to run their lips over the  
tips of their fangs. Buffy wiggled from Spikes grasp, tried to move forward  
to save the baby, but Angel grabbed her around the waist, pulling her to his  
chest.  
The hideous demon stepped froward from his human throne, raisng his clawed  
hands to the sky.  
"My lord, accept this sacrifice, a human child, born to be a Slayer of  
demons who we have sought out to please you .Give me strength, strength you  
posses but cannot use, so that I may demolish the human race and those who  
oppose you. Help me to defeat the ones strong united, who will undoubtedly  
stand against me. My Lord, accept this sacrifice!" The child's wails rose  
higher... and died.  
Buffy buried her face in Angels shirt, averting her gaze from the smoking  
baby bones laid out in the circle of dead, and also of the demon, crackling  
with newly posessed power.  
  
Giles looked over the text Dawn and Connor had brought to him on the demon  
Zinikila, his brow furrowed in concentration. There were two illustrations,  
one of a hideous demon, a skull perched on a mass of demon bulk, and of the  
same demon after a sacrifice.  
The sacrifice, it seemed, of a child destined to become a Slayer.  
The sound of a door being shut from the front of the house. Setting the  
book down, he motioned for Illyria to follow him. In the living room, he was  
happy to note that everyone had returned safely from their excursion with no  
apparent injuries. Buffy, however, was blank, her face unreadable as she took  
a seat on the couch, hardly noting the horned green demon who was still  
conversingwith Wesley.  
'Hello, erm, Buffy. Find anything, um, important?" He asked hopefully. Gunn  
spoke up.  
"Yeah, some demon dude, scary lookin fella', sacrificing babies to some lord  
of his, askin for power to end the word." Shaking his head, he turned to  
Wesley," Why are these world domination demons so ego eccentric?"  
  
Buffy hugged the pillow, the nights events still reeling through her over  
loaded brain, so focused on herself that she didn't even hear Angel enter  
with his nightly blood. He set the mug on the table before settling on the  
couch beside her. She could never had denied that when he put his arm around  
her shoulders and pulled her close to him that she felt that she was really  
part of something bigger, that it wasn't jut her life that mattered, but  
that everyone's did. That she didn't save the world so that there would be a  
mall to shop at tomorrow, but for everyone else. And it was especially now  
that she felt the most loved girl in the world, when he planted a kiss on  
her forehead and stroked her hair till she fell asleep.  
  
Hesitantly, Dawn knocked on Connors bedroom door. He was sitting on his bed  
playing what looked suspiciously like a gameboy, but he hid it when she  
entered.  
"Yeah?" Connor smiled at her as she sat on the bed next to him. She just  
smiled at him, taking his hand.  
"You know, this was such a great day. Research, tea with a demon, hearing  
all about that sacrifice..." She shuddered and he wrapped an arm around her.  
"Wasn't it?"  
Dawn held her breath as Connor leant forward, his lips brushing hers  
before pulling away with a smile. Dawn let out her breath, smiling so much,  
she could never had explained how she felt at that moment.  
"Yeah, it was a great day."


	6. chapter 6

Hey this is AppleDude or appledude86 on neopets. I of course belong to the  
guild (great place if you aren't a member join!) This chapter is very much  
overdue but I think you will enjoy it all the same!  
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Chapter 6  
  
Two Weeks Later  
-August 3rd, 2004 8:00am-  
  
"All I am saying is I don't think he has what it takes to be the President  
of the United States," said Buffy as she was entering the door to Giles  
apartment arms filled with groceries.  
"Yeah and President Bush is a much better candidate. Please! Look at the  
situation in Iraq, it is in shambles," retorted Willow also having her hands  
filled with groceries.  
"May I point out John Kerry agreed with the President. Dawn get your butt  
down here and help bring in the groceries," called Buffy into the apartment.  
Buffy was exhausted, she had received little to no sleep ever since she  
arrived in Italy. The past couple of weeks was all researching and preparing  
for battle. Giles wanted her to stay home and train but Buffy needed to get  
out.  
"Did you get it?" asked Dawn as she bounded down the stairs towards the  
kitchen.  
"Get what? Oh your cereal. I couldn't find Frosted Flakes but I found  
this!" said Buffy proudly holding up a cereal box.  
"Fiocchi Di Avena?" questioned Dawn.  
"I think it means corn flakes in Italian. I am surprised I didn't see it at  
home. Very nutritious and expensive," said Buffy.  
"The whole point about Frosted Flakes is that they are frosted with you  
know, sugar," said Dawn taking the box anyway and getting a bowl from the  
cabinet.  
"Oh God forbid you eat anything healthy," said Buffy taking out more  
groceries and placing them on the counter. Xander, Connor and Gunn came into  
the kitchen to claim their food. Illyria followed in interest.  
"Be glad you have that at all Dawnie. We almost didn't make it back here  
alive," said Willow opening a yogurt.  
"It's not my fault they drive on the wrong side of the road!" protested  
Buffy.  
"Sweet Twinkies!" proclaimed Xander as he tore at the package.  
"What are Twinkies?" asked Illyria.  
"Only the best invention of a high carb snack! Here try one," said Xander  
his mouth full of one.  
"Hmm. I don't like the texture," said Illyria examining it. "Smells bad  
too. It must be destroyed," said Illyria walking to the toilet.  
"Woah, let's not waste perfectly good food here," said Xander taking it from  
her.  
"With what you guys are consuming I would be surprised if you make it past  
30," said Buffy, putting some milk in the fridge.  
"So any new info break while we were gone?" asked Buffy.  
"Yes actually," said Giles coming down stairs with a book in one hand and a  
cup of tea in the other.  
"Unfortunately our green horny friend has said that anytime now they could  
finish the ritual," said Xander.  
"We learned that they need one last thing. To drain the blood of a Slayer,"  
said Wesley piping in.  
"That won't be hard to find," said Buffy.  
"We aren't talking about the potentials that were turned. We are talking  
about the original Slayer," explained Wesley.  
"In other words you love," said Spike appearing from a dark corner.  
"Oh. Great," said Buffy.  
All of a sudden there came a loud rumble and shaking.  
"What, an earthquake in England?" yelled Anya through the noise. "I thought we  
left this in California!"  
"Quick everyone to a door frame!" yelled Buffy.  
"Why a door frame?" asked Illyria who wasn't the least bit troubled by what  
was happening.  
"Just come on!" yelled Wesley pulling Illyria under the door frame he was  
under.  
The windows of the house started to break and the ground started to crack.  
Tara came tumbling down the stairs right into Willow. Both were knocked to  
the ground. Spike quickly picked them up and brought them to the others.  
"Dawn get over--" Buffy was cut off by a large support beam coming down  
onto her head knocking her cold. Angel quickly grabbed her and pulled her  
under his door frame. Spike glared at Angel. Dawn ran towards everyone else  
but tripped over one of the cracks and fell to the ground.  
As she was getting up Connor noticed the ceiling starting to cave above her.  
"Dawn look out!" yelled Giles from a corner. The ceiling caved but Connor  
threw himself into her knocking her out of the way. Buffy awoke just as the  
shaking stopped.  
"Is everyone okay?" asked Gunn getting up.  
"Yeah," most replied.  
"That wasn't naturally caused," said Giles wiping his brow.  
"It must have been them. But how. How could they. I mean Buffy is here,"  
said Wesley breathing heavily.  
"Faith," murmured Buffy.  
  
-August 2nd, 2004 11:30pm-  
  
Faith stepped out of the airport into the dark and dreary London night.  
"So this is London, huh?" asked Faith to herself. "They were right about it  
being rainy and miserable," she said zipping up her worn out leather jacket.  
"Okay where to go," she said taking up a folded up letter with instructions  
on it. Faith wondered through the streets of London not exactly knowing  
where to go. All she knew is that she was looking for a worn down warehouse.  
She knew she should probably check in with Buffy and the rest of the  
scoobies before an assault but she wasn't planning one. She figured she  
could do some surveying first. An hour later she reached her desired  
destination. Pleased, she crept up to one of the windows and bent down,  
looking through the smudged window. All she could make out were a couple of  
vamps in black cloaks. She could just make out the one sitting on scrap  
metal resembling a form of throne. If only she could get a little closer  
look. She went over to the next window but not as gracefully as the first.  
She tripped over a rock embedded in the ground and went face first into the  
window. Faith put up her arms to protect her face as she came crashing into  
the warehouse. When she opened her eyes it was still dark and silent but  
then a few rough grips came onto her back and arms and she was dragged where  
there was light.  
"Master, here is the intruder," said one of the hooded vampires.  
"Ah, one of the original Slayers," it spoke with the most irritable and  
bone chilling voice. "I would have preferred the blonde one but you will do  
just as well. Bring her forth!" he commanded. The two vamps obeyed and  
brought Faith up near the Master. As Faith was being dragged she noticed  
that the Master's throne laid upon a massive conveyor belt. She tried  
loosening one of her boots. She had a plan.  
"You don't know how long I have been waiting for this moment. Once I have  
completed draining you this dimension will finally be destroyed. Bring her  
closer!" The vamps brought Faith right up into his face. His breath was  
horrendous and stunk of rotten flesh. "What's your name?" he asked.  
"My name is Faith," she replied not showing any sign of being intimidated.  
"Well Faith you know what I hate most about this dimension?" he asked.  
"That most of us brush our teeth and judging by the smell of your mouth  
that can't be too popular where you are from," remarked Faith.  
"Shut your mouth!" he yelled and smacked her across the face. He then  
pulled her by her hair so they were touching cheek to cheek. "What I hate  
most about this dimension is how much each being cares about each other. It  
is disgusting."  
"So is your face," punned Faith as she kicked off her boot and sent it  
flying to the ON button for the conveyor belt. The master cried out in  
frustration as he was being pulled along. His grip on Faith was still strong  
until Faith gave him a good kick in the head which sent him off his throne.  
He did, however, manage to cut Faith's arm causing Faith's blood to smudge  
along his hand but Faith was released from his grip. Faith then started to  
be attacked from all sides from the hooded vamps. One by one she took them  
out. She had no stake so decapitation was the only way. When she finally  
managed to break free from the vamp strong hold she decided to make a run  
for it. Only problem is she couldn't find the windows. She ran to the  
nearest door and shut it quickly behind her, hearing it lock in place. It  
was completely dark. She heard muffling noises all around her. She pondered  
what it could be. She rummaged through her other boot to reveal a lighter  
that airline security missed. She flicked it on and to her astonishment she  
was surrounded by cages 30 feet wide and 50 feet tall. In them was a  
horrible site. In some there were humans, alive but starving. In others  
there was a mixed species of man, some form of goblin and wolf.  
"What the hell are they planning here," asked Faith to herself. She then  
noticed something that appeared to be a person in his own cage, curled up  
naked. Faith went to get a closer look. He was taking very short breaths  
and was shivering uncontrollably.  
"Oh my God. Oz?" asked Faith in astonishment.  
  
Thank you so much for reading I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I  
enjoyed writing it! Whoever is next will have a lot of fun playing around  
with these additional characters. Good luck to the next person!


	7. chapter 7

Author's Note: Yep, my turn to try my hand at what is becoming one hell at a fic. For those of you on neopets I'm kittybeenbad and for those who haunt fanfiction net I'm sanityfair or just 'Kitty' if you're referring to me directly. Hopefully, I'll do this story some kind of justice and special thanks to Erin for beta reading this for me.

A.N 2: I added the last bit, because it's kinda been bugging me since I started reading. So, if it's lame, or any of this for that matter, then forgive me.

August 2nd, 2004 11:45pm

Oz did not reply, but by the rapid increase in his breathing and the fact that his lips were moving with no words coming out, Faith knew that he was attempting to. Faith looked around anxiously, but saw no means of getting him out. She held the lighter and examined the lock, which was reddened from a long period of decay.

"Stand back," she said although she wasn't sure if he understood.

Either way he continued to lie there, now looking at her and continuing to move his mouth.

Faith kicked the cage door as hard as she could, sending it crashing inward. Oz still made move as the cage door scraped against him, cutting his flesh as it did. Faith leaned inside the cage and pulled him out careful to be gentle with him as she was sure he would be in shock and his injuries would be unknown.

"Okay, your okay, j-just chill," she muttered while taking off her jacket and placing it over him.

Oz was still shivering, but the once pale hue that covered his skin was starting to darken thanks to the jacket and Faith rubbing him for warmth. Faith pulled up Oz's eyelids to examine his pupils. She wasn't exactly a medical doctor, but she knew how to check for a concussion.

"W-who….w-w-w," Oz began to speak incoherently

"Don't try to talk, just uh, we'll be okay," Faith said more so trying to convince herself, "I'm going to try to get us out of here."

As she looked at the rows of cages and the windowless room around her, she wondered how she was going to keep this promise.

Just outside the door back in the main section of the warehouse The Master stared down at his hand, which still held remnants of Faith's blood. The blood had done something to him, given something to him. Power.

"My lord," one of the remaining vampires said walking up and bowing before his master, "The slayer has locked herself in the amalgamation room. Should we attempt to break in?"

"Why is it that you cannot simply open it?" The Master asked viciously, "Do not have the key? Or is that you are lacking of a mind?"

The vampire looked down in embarrassment, "No, m' lord, the door is opened and closed with a code, w-which Domingo has, a-and he's dead."

The vampire cowered beneath The Master's steely gaze sure that his fate would be.

"This is my folly for entrusting vampires, how many are left?" The Master asked

"Eight, m lord, the slayer has killed the others, and I'm quite certain the other's will come looking for Faith," the vampire said still looking at the ground.

"You are certain of nothing," The Master shouted, "Leave me, I must think. In the meantime, let the slayer figure stay where she is. She's not going anywhere."

The vampire left along with two others that were flanking him to go stand guard at the amalgamation room. The Master closed his eyes and flexed his hand feeling the sensation of strength that emitted from it.

"Are you content now, Zinihila?"

The Master jerked his eyes open. He recognized that voice, knew it all too well. And with this realization came great fear for him.

"How can y-you….how are y-you speaking to me?" The Master stammered looking around for the body that owned the voice.

The warehouse was empty, he was all alone, and the voice came from his head.

"No dimension is too far away to reach, Zinihila, you should know that," The voice said amused, "I see you have a taste of power, tell me, how does it feel?"

"Nephi 'Ah 'ka 'la, I'm only taking the power that bound to slayers to do your bidding, I assure you."

"Yet, you call yourself 'Master,' I am not amused nor am I impressed. When I banished you to this dimension my instructions were clear, destroy it, and yet you linger around playing games of power," Nephi 'Ah 'ka 'la said angrily.

" It will be, on my word…on my life."

"In truth, this had better be, or I shall come down there myself, with a trembling force this world has never seen."

August 3rd, 2004 11:00am

Three hours later after much of the fallen debris had been cleared and everyone's nerves had been calmed, the Scoobies and members of team Angel sat or stood in the cramped living room of the apartment. If team meetings alone could distinguish apocalypses, then this was surely one.

Xander, Anya, and Tara all sat together on the couch while Willow sat on the couch's armrest next to Tara holding her hand. Gunn, Wesley, and Giles, all sat on chairs that had been brought in and Connor and Dawn sat on a small sofa together sneaking occasional worried glances at each other. Buffy, Illyria, Spike, and Angel all stood up while the room stayed in a subdued silence.

"So, if Faith is dead, maybe the big scary demon guy won't drain her, maybe he'll just forget or something," Anya said hopefully breaking the silence.

"Ahn, we're trying to think optimistic here," Xander said.

"I am, but we have to be realistic too, I mean no one's heard from her, no one's seen her, and since Buffy's safely here that means he's probably trying to figure out the perfect knife to use on Faith," Anya said.

"We don't know that yet, hell, for all we know Faith ain't even in London," Gunn said.

"Yes, we can not loose hope," Giles said.

"No, Anya's right," Buffy said, "We have to consider our options here, all of them, and we can't rule out that something's already gotten to her."

"Maybe that's what the earthquake was," Connor said, "I mean, that wasn't exactly normal."

"You humans know nothing," Illyria said, "The Earthquake that just occurred was average on the Richter scale, judging by the time it occurred and the time it stopped, one could conclude it was natural and not mystical in nature. Unless the demon has managed to shift the Earth's plates while still worrying about getting to the slayer."

Everyone stared at her.

"How the bloody hell, do you know that?" Spike asked, "They teach you that bit in demon school?"

Illyria herself even looked confused, if such a feeling were possible to read in her emotionless face.

"It was the shell…"

Wesley suddenly jumped up, "I told you not to call her that, she is more than a 'shell', Illyria."

Everyone stared at him with their mouths agape.

"Winifred Burkle, or the shell, whichever I speak to name it you still bear the same anger. It is a contradiction and I care not for contradictions," Illyria said in the same monotone, "This knowledge is not my own. I do not care for Earth's occurrences."

"Wait…Fred?" Willow said in a sudden realization, "This is Fred?"

"Was Fred," Gunn corrected quietly looking down at the floor.

"What is going on?" Buffy asked in confusion.

"Illyria murdered her and took over her body," Angel said narrowing his eyes at the memory of it, "So, what are you saying, Illyria? We should just ignore the Earthquake that just happened? Cause, last I heard, actually I've never heard of one happening in London."

"No, I'm saying there might be another that caused it," Illyria said, "It is still of no concern to me. I do not see why you strive to save a world that is already drenched in it's own filth and decay. It is not the world I left behind."

A.N - Okay, that's it for me, thanks for reading, and good luck to all that follow me.


	8. chapter 8

Hey everyone, Happy Halloween! It's Erin again, buffygirl52789 at the guild and here at fanfiction. I hope you like this chapter, it's probably not my best work but I tried to make it interesting, and I snuck in a few moments for my favorite couples XD Good luck everyone who has yet to write their second chapter!!

Chapter 8

Everyone just stared at Illyria for a few moments before Spike stood up.

"Well I don't get why we're just _sitting_ here," he said. "Big Blue says that there might be not one, but two big bads, and we've been here for two weeks without accomplishing next to anything."

"That's not true, we've...accomplished stuff," Willow said awkwardly, glancing to Tara for help.

"I never thought I'd say this, but Captain Peroxide has a point," Gunn said, standing up. "So we think that Faith might be in town. I say we go look for her."

Giles nodded slowly. "That couldn't hurt. Gunn, why don't you take Spike and Illyria to go search for Faith."

"What are the rest of us supposed to do?" Angel asked impatiently.

"We should spread out. The more ground we can cover, the faster we'll find her," Connor spoke up.

"I think it's time we go back to the warehouse," Buffy said. She had been avoiding the place ever since that night, but besides the demon they had captured and the earthquake, that had been the only unusual occurrence since they had arrived. "Something big was going down that night, with the sacrifice. I'll bet that the same vamps were responsible for our earthquake."

"I'll come," Angel said quickly. Buffy smiled.

Spike frowned. "Maybe I should-"

"We need you with us," Gunn said, glancing from Buffy to Angel to Spike. "I think they can handle it on their own."

"Connor and I can come," Dawn said hopefully.

Buffy shook her head. "No, I don't want you anywhere near that warehouse."

Dawn looked indignant. "Come on Buffy! I've barely been out of the house since we got here! You used to let me fight in Sunnydale," she protested.

"Dawn, you know this is different. We don't even know what we're up against, I want you here. Besides, you've been helping a lot with the research," Buffy said weakly.

"You know, it's not fair. I think Dawn is capable of handling herself," Connor said, crossing his arms. Dawn smiled slightly.

Buffy blinked, surprised at his jump to defend her sister. "I want her here."

"Well then I'm staying too," Connor said, sitting down firmly. There was a brief, awkward silence.

"W-willow and I could try a locator spell. To find Faith," Tara said timidly.

Wesley nodded. "That's a good idea. Although I'm afraid we don't have all the supplies."

"Anya and I are on it," Xander said. "What do we need?"

"I'll write it down," Wesley said, reaching for a piece of paper.

"You ready?" Angel said to Buffy.

She nodded, pulling on her coat and sticking a few stakes into the pockets. "As I'll ever be." Then the two of them headed out the door, while Spike glared jealously behind their backs.

A few minutes later, Xander and Anya had left to get the ingredients for the spell, and Spike, Gunn, and Illyria had set off to find Faith. Giles and Wesley were pouring over books in the living room, muttering to themselves occasionally. Willow and Tara busied themselves cleaning up from the earthquake, and Connor was looking around the room, realizing Dawn had disappeared. He walked down the hall and found her in one of the bedrooms, staring out the open window into the night.

"You okay?" he asked quietly.

She looked up. "Thank you. Not just for defending me in there, but for saving my life earlier."

He felt himself blush slightly. "Don't mention it."

"It's just really unfair, you know?" she said suddenly. "I mean, back in Sunnydale I felt like we were finally getting somewhere. Buffy wasn't being so protective. But as soon as we fly across the ocean, she's back to her old self." She sighed. "I think it's because of your dad. It really messes her up, being around him."

Gradually, everyone had figured out that Connor was Angel's son. The Angel Investigations crew and Willow, who had met Connor while helping to reensoul Angelus, had filled in a few blanks for the others, and now everyone pretty much knew, although the topic had never really been discussed. And frankly, Connor wasn't that eager to.

"They used to be really in love, huh," Connor commented simply.

She nodded. "I think they still are. But now things are different. And Spike being here isn't making it any easier."

"Does Buffy love Spike too?" he asked, already knowing the answer.

Dawn shook her head. "No. She cares about him a lot, but I know she doesn't love him the way she loves Angel. Maybe tonight they'll finally get the chance to work out some of their issues."

"Maybe." There was a brief pause in the conversation.

"But it's like, when is she going to realize that I am seventeen years old? I can take care of myself," Dawn said, sounding frustrated.

"Well I think you seem very capable, and your sister is a fool not to see it," he said softly.

She turned to face him slowly, smiling. "But I still don't regret coming to London."

"Why?" Connor asked, hoping he knew the answer.

"Because I met you." She inched closer to him. "I feel like you see me differently than everyone else does. And the other night? When you kissed me?" She came to a stop only inches from him. "That was the best moment of my life."

"Mine...too.." he said, leaning in until his lips met hers. The kiss quickly deepened, and they wrapped their arms around each other. They fell back sideways onto the bed before breaking apart due to a desperate need for oxygen. They broke apart and lie on the bed, facing the ceiling.

"I know what you mean, when I'm around you, I just...I can't think about anything else," he said, panting slightly.

"Connor," she said softly, rolling towards him so they could meet in another kiss.

"You feel so good," he muttered, face buried in her neck.

Suddenly Dawn sat up, her eyes big. "Come away with me."

"What?" he asked, unsure of what she was talking about.

"When this is over. When Buffy kills the big what's-his-face demon guy, we can run away together. I'll be eighteen in another couple of months, and I can finally be free to do what I want. And the best part is, we'll be together," she said enthusiastically, squeezing his hand.

He stared at her in surprise. Just as he opened his mouth to respond they were interrupted by the sound of Giles clearing his throat loudly. They looked up, moving apart quickly.

"Uh..Dawn, Connor, we could use some help preparing the locator spell," he said awkwardly.

They nodded quickly. "Sure," Dawn said, rushing to help. Connor followed in her footsteps, leaving Giles to clean his glasses wearily.

"Why is it of such importance that we find this Faith?" Illyria asked, sounding bored as per usual.

"Because she's a slayer. And we think they might have done something nasty to her to cause the earthquake," Gunn explained.

"Who is this 'they' that you so often speak of?" she asked.

"The Big Bad. Whatever got us to this damn city in the first place," Gunn said, starting to get exasperated. He glanced over at Spike. They had been walking for over ten minutes now and the blonde vampire hadn't said a word.

"This is useless. She's probably already dead," Spike said, sounding angry at no one in particular.

Gunn raised an eyebrow. "You're just bitter because Angel and Buffy are out making with the patrolling. Together," he said dryly.

Spike shot a look at him. "You really think that bothers me? She can have the big poof," he muttered under his breath.

Gunn cracked a smile. It was different seeing William the Bloody all nervous and jerky. He decided he could get used to it.

"Well I'm not seeing anything. Actually...I'm not seeing anything." Gunn stopped, realizing something. "Do you realize that we've been walking through the not-so-great part of town for fifteen minutes now and we haven't seen one vamp?"

"They know," Illyria said suddenly. "They know, and they flee."

"Flee from what?" Spike asked, not really in the mood for cryptic.

She looked at him. "From the dark force that has arisen. Other creatures of the night fear his power."

"Is this some kind of weird demony sense thing? Because you are trippin," Gunn said, eyebrows raised.

"I can sense it too. A great power, fearsome to some. But it does not threaten me," she said coolly.

"Does anything?" Spike muttered under his breath. He sighed and raised his voice to a normal level. "Do your great demon senses know anything about our missing slayer?"

Illyria shook her head. "No. But I suspect she may be in danger, as are all of you."

Buffy and Angel walked along in silence for several minutes before either of them dared to speak. This was some of the first real alone time they had gotten in the two weeks since they had arrived, and Buffy was determined to use it to get some answers. The first subject that popped into her mind was that of Connor.

"You know that you never told me about him," Buffy said quietly.

Angel looked guilty, somehow understanding what she had meant. "So I guess that means you figured it out."

She looked at him with an expression that clearly said 'duh.' "We all figured it out a long time ago. It's pretty obvious you know. You can see the family resemblance, right down to the disturbing fascination with my sister." She stopped, looking at him. "But I still wish I could have learned it from you."

"I'm sorry. I just..." He sighed. "Look, Buffy, this has been painful enough. Just being around you. And things with me and Connor aren't exactly peachy. I guess I just put off the subject until it was too late. And I'm sorry. You deserved to hear it from me."

She nodded. "Apology accepted." They started to walk along again, now on the same block as the warehouse.

"I've missed you," he said suddenly, before he realized what he was saying.

She looked up in surprise. "I...I've missed you too."

Suddenly she stopped in her tracks, and began a frustrated rant. "Angel, you have no idea how messed up I am right now. When I got here, and Giles told me he had called you, my heart started beating really fast. I thought it was a mix of nerves, dread and excitement. But guess what? I'm still waiting for it to stop. And then who do you walk through the door with but _Spike_ and your teenage son." She paused, running her fingers through her hair. "You just have _no_ idea how hard it's been. And on top of all my confusing, painful emotions there is some 'dark force' in town that we still know jack squat about, and there's also the matter of my teenage sister who likes to believe she's older than she is flirting with _your_ teenage son." She stopped and took a breath. An awkward silence followed.

"That pretty much sums it up," Angel said after a long moment. "Believe me Buffy, it is almost impossible for me to be around you."

"Gee, thanks," she said, insulted.

He looked frustrated. "You know I didn't mean it like that. But it's just so hard when you are this close, and you look so tempting, and everything in me wants to just reach out and take you but I know I can't."

She took a step closer to him. "Why not? Angel, you know what moment I've dreamed about almost every night since the last time I saw you?" He remained silent, already knowing her answer. "That kiss, back in Sunnydale, when you came to help me. I was so mixed up then and I let my guard down for just a few, wonderful seconds and thanks to that I have been able to survive the past year." She realized that as she was speaking she had moved even closer to him. "When I see you, I know I'm supposed to feel pain, but a part of me that's too big to ignore still jumps for joy whenever I'm in the same room as you. I can't ignore that," she whispered.

"Buffy," he said quietly, as her lips moved closer to his own. When they met any shred of doubt he had in his mind vanished without a trace, and he quickly deepened the kiss, wrapping his arms around her.

Just as the kiss grew extra passionate and hands started to roam, there was a loud crash followed by two figures stumbling out the new, gaping hole in the side of the warehouse. Buffy and Angel quickly jumped away from each other, fixing their clothes and assuming a fighting stance.

"Hey B," Faith gasped. "Angel."

"Faith," Buffy said, her eyes wandering for the first time to the figure that was half supported by Faith. The dust was starting to clear from the hole that had presumably been made by Faith, and she gaped when she recognized him. "Oz? Oh my God, what happened?"

"I came to town because I heard this was where the party was. A couple vamps grabbed me here, I got into another room where I found old Oz here in a cage. Had to smash a hole in the wall to get out, so best bet is that they are on their way right now," she said quickly. She made eye contact with Buffy. "We need to get him out of here. I don't know what they did to him."

Buffy nodded, her mind spinning. It was extremely hard to concentrate on formulating a plan with the memory of Angel's lips on hers so fresh in her mind. "Okay, you can take him back to Giles and the others, Angel and I can stay and-"

"I'm afraid we're going to need a new plan," Angel said slowly. Buffy looked up and saw a group of about 7 vamps starting towards them from the other side of the warehouse. They did _not_ look happy.

"Anya, I am just saying that it's not very polite to call his magic shop a disgrace to the industry just because you didn't like his price on snakeskin," Xander said as he walked through the door with Anya.

"That price was twice what I charge! I was simply letting him know that he was not a very good businessman," she replied indignantly.

Willow walked over to them. "You got the ingredients?" she asked.

Anya sighed, handing her the bag. "Yes, but you were completely ripped off. And don't even get me started on his pricing of salamander root!"

Willow took the ingredients out of the bag and began setting them up around the map that was lying on the floor. "This should show us exactly where Faith is. And we have enough ingredients to do a locator spell for demonic energy afterwards. There are only a few modifications."

Tara looked down, remembering the first time they had tried the spell to locate demonic energy. She had been so afraid that she had demon in her that she had botched the spell on purpose.

Willow sat down in front of the map once it was ready, Tara next to her. Dawn, Connor, Giles, Wesley, Anya, and Xander stood off to the side.

"Goddess, lead us to our fellow warrior, Faith. Let the light lead us to her side," Willow said simply, her hand joined with Tara's. A moment later a tiny speck of light appeared on the map.

"It looks like she's at the warehouse," Willow said. She glanced at Giles. "Is that a good or a bad thing?"

Giles sighed. "Assuming the evil that resides there doesn't know of her presence, then it is good, because Buffy and Angel will surely run into her. But if they don't return soon, we should go in search of them."

"But if the bad guys found her first, she could be being held prisoner or something," Dawn said.

"We cannot rule it out," Giles said thoughtfully.

Meanwhile, Willow and Tara were rearranging the ingredients for the next spell. "This one is a little more complicated. But it should give us some idea of what exactly is in the warehouse, and how powerful it is." She sat back down, rejoining hands with Tara.

"Thespia, we walk in shadow. Walk in blindness. You are the protector of the night," Tara began.

"Thespia, goddess, ruler of all darkness, we implore you . . . open a window to the world of the underbeing," Willow added. They both blew the powder in their hands over the map.

"With your knowledge may we go in safety. With your grace may we speak of your benevolence," Willow finished.

The others watched in expectation. Nothing appeared to be happening, until all of a sudden the map started shaking violently. Willow and Tara began to shake as well.

"What's happening?" Xander asked nervously. "Are they okay?"

"I'm afraid the spell isn't working correctly. I've never seen this happen before," Wesley said. Before anyone could do anything, a sudden gust of wind came up from the map and sent Willow and Tara flying backwards into the wall. They slammed into it and crumpled to the ground. Then the map suddenly burst into flames.

"Willow!" Xander yelled, rushing to her side. Giles and Anya joined him, while Wesley and Connor ran to stamp out the fire.

Willow moaned slightly, coming back to consciousness. "Wha...Tara..."

"I'm okay," Tara said quietly, while Anya helped her sit up. "What happened?"

"The spell got out of control," Wesley replied. The fire was put out, but faint smoke still drifted through the room. Connor was cleaning up the remains of the map.

Willow looked at Giles, terror in her eyes. "Giles, whatever it was is really powerful. I could feel it. I think it was too much for the spell to take."

Xander and Anya helped Willow and Tara to the couch, while Giles slowly removed his glasses. "The force must be very dark, possibly ancient."

"And, most likely un-living in the warehouse where Buffy, Angel, and Faith are," Xander said slowly. Everyone looked up, realizing that he was right.

"So what do we do now?" Willow asked, rubbing her arm where it had hit the wall.

Connor reentered the room. "We get ready. For war."


	9. chapter 9

Hey everyone! This is my first round robin chapter. On neopets I am harmony910, on I'm known as Tara Summers. Well, here goes nothing!

Chapter 9

Willow sighed. "Great. I guess we'll be going to the mattresses now." Everyone stared at her, no idea what she was talking about. "What? Hasn't anyone seen 'The Godfather'? It means we'll be going to war, and…oh, forget it. I'll shut up now." Tara slipped her hand into Willow's, smiling at her girlfriend.

Connor nodded. "Right then. We should get weapons, go help Buffy, Da-Angel, and Faith totally kick this thing's ass. Whatever Willow just said, she's right. This is war." He began searching through the weapons cabinet for anything he could use that would kill easily. Dawn came over and began doing the same. Wes stood up, clearing his throat.

"Yeah, yeah, I know you guys don't want us to get hurt. Connor and I could be your backup," Dawn said for him. Wes nodded and sat back down. Dawn looked into Connor's dark eyes to make sure it was okay with him. He nodded slightly, making Dawn smile. Her eyes drifted from his eyes to his lips-his luscious lips that just awhile ago had been locked with hers. She blinked and came back to the real world. Everyone was getting ready to leave.

"Alright, well, if Willow contacts you telepathically, then you know that we need help," Wes explained to the three staying behind. Everyone-except Dawn-had agreed that Illyria should also be backup since she was a powerful demon. Illyria also seemed to dislike this suggestion.

"I refuse to stay," she had said. Wes had explained why she should stay, but she would never acknowledge that Wes had changed her mind. "I stay because it suits me." She sulked at having to stay behind.

"So, umm…Connor. Are you ever going to tell me about your past? I told you about me. Now it's time to reverse; you tell me about you. Other than being Angel's son, I mean," Dawn said. Connor looked down at the asphalt. No way. You can't tell her! Not yet at least.

"Dawn. Listen, when we get out of this alive, I'll tell you. Okay? That way you can't die: you'll never know about me." Illyria scoffed. "What?" Connor asked.

"What reason would she possibly want to know about you? You humans aren't interesting," she answered. She was investigating a small fern in a nearby window, occasionally nodding and saying random things as if she were talking to it. Dawn stared at her menacingly. With a gentle touch of Connor's hand on her shoulder-which almost took her breath away-her anger was gone. Her faced moved closer to his, her lips like a beacon, searching for his. They kissed lightly at first, the light kiss soon turning into a heavier kiss.

"Buffy, look out!" Angel yelled as the vampire attacked from behind her. Sure, she could take care of herself, but he always worried about her. Buffy spun around, stabbing her stake into its heart. As she spun back around, the dust from the vampire swirled about her head. Angel wished he could pause that moment forever. The roar of the oncoming vampire snapped him back. As he raised his sword to fight the vamp off, his features changed to his demonic face. The demon always seemed to make him stronger, this proven by the savage attack he made on the opponent. With a single blow of the sword's broadside, it broke the vampire's nose, sending him backwards, howling and holding his blood-gushing nose. As soon as that vampire fell back, another one took his place.

"Angel!" Willow's voice rang out in the warehouse's storage room. He didn't look, lest he become dusted, but instead only called out, "Kinda busy here Will!" Another sweep of his blade beheaded the second vampire, reducing him to a pile of ash. The first vampire seemed to have caught his second wind, and was taking the place of the dusted vampire before him. It didn't take long to dust him either. Angel turned to Willow. She, the rest of the Scoobies, and his gang were there to help. Already Gunn was going for the vamp pulling on Buffy's hair, yanking her neck back to drain her blood.

"Where's-?" Angel began. Willow held up her hand to stop him. "Don't worry, Connor and Dawnie are outside. They're our backup. And Illyria is with 'em. They'll be fine," she assured him.

"Yeah Angel, don't get all weepy on us. Need you to kill the bad guys, not cry a river," Spike stated as he strode up, hands in the pockets of his leather duster. "And, no, I don't count as a bad guy. I got me a soul, can't be a Black Hat," he bragged. Angel rolled his eyes.

Soon, all seven vampires were dusted. It had seemed easy; too easy. Buffy was prepared for an ambush. Anything of that nature would ease her tense feeling. Kinda weird, a tense feeling over something that was so easy. Buffy shook her head, ridding her mind of the thoughts in her mind. They had split up into two teams, kept in touch by Willow's telepathic calls every so often. You're right, it is weird. Willow's voice suddenly filled Buffy's head, causing her to jump a little. Jeez Will! Gimme a little privacy would you! Buffy screamed back at her. Sorry Buffy. Just wanted to say that we haven't found anything. Have you? Buffy almost shook her head, then thought better of it. No, not yet. I'll contact you if we do though, okay? Willow's voice came back, almost sad. Yeah, okay. Ten-four good-buddy. Buffy rolled her eyes. No more CB radio contact for her.

"Well?" Tara asked. Willow shook her head. "Okay, well, they'll be fine. Probably nothing here at all." Willow gave her a half smile. Tara was right; nothing was here at all. That's what she thought before the huge door behind them slammed shut, trapping Giles, Xander, Faith, Tara, and herself in the pitch black room.

Buffy looked at her group-Angel, Spike, Gunn, Wes, and herself-and smiled. She knew they would win, especially with the Scoobies and Angel's group working on it. Willow? You found anything yet? Buffy asked telepathically. Willow didn't answer. "Uh-oh. That can't be good," Buffy muttered, her upper lip curling back in disgust. She faced her group, eyes filled with worry. "Willow's not answering."

"Eh, she probably ran into some busy signal. Try again," Spike told her. "What can be so important that she ignores you?" He shrugged. All of a sudden the lights died, only a single fluorescent bulb at the end of the rectangular room. The huge door at the other end of the room screeched shut. "Okay. Maybe that was it."

Connor stretched his neck, trying to see into the warehouse window. "How do you think they're doing in there?" he asked Dawn. She shrugged. They looked at Illyria to make sure she hadn't wandered off. She was starring off into space, possibly sleeping, maybe studying the air molecules around her, or something completely random. It was hard to tell with her.

Dawn yawned. "Well, if they need us, I hope they contact us soon. I'm kinda bored." The expression on Connor's face made her wish she could kick herself. "Not of you! Just of sitting here and waiting!" she quickly added. He nodded, his somber expression lost. Dawn let out a sigh; couldn't let him think she didn't like him anymore. Then he'd never want to be with me.

Buffy, can you hear me? Willow tried to contact Buffy telepathically. She shook her head. "No use guys. I think there's a spell on this place that doesn't enable me to contact them. If I really wanted to reach her, I'd have to completely use all of my magick, maybe even Tara's. And I'm thinkin' that's not a good idea with our predicament."

Giles's voice rang out from the darkness, "Yes, well, I-I believe that's not a good idea, using all of your magick. Do conserve it for something…else." Willow giggled. "What?"

"I bet you're cleaning your glasses, aren't you?" He didn't answer; she knew she was right.

"Yeah, well, whatever he's doing, it's not gonna help us get out of here. I say we just bust the damn door down. After we find it, of course." Willow jumped slightly when Faith spoke. It had been a few months, and Willow had forgotten all about the other Slayer. "I just hope that blonde chick got Oz the hell out of here. I mean…what did they do to him that left him like that?"

"I don't really want to find out. Especially if it involves watching the Evita movie, the one with Madonna. I shudder to think of the pain," Xander kidded. No one laughed; it wasn't a time to really be laughing. "Okay then. Let's just find a way out of here then."

"Come on Slayer. You're the git who's always getting us out of everything. What you gonna do now?" Spike said. His voice sounded different; like he had a cigarette between his lips. Buffy's thought was confirmed when she saw the flickering light of his silver lighter, and a dim lighting of his face when he inhaled. "So, this big bad trapped us in. We find the door, smash it down, simple as that." He turned around, heading back to where the door had been. A bluish light sizzled through the air; a crackling sound rang out, followed by the sound of Spike's body hitting the ground. "Bugger! That bloody hurt!"

"It's gonna be simple, huh?" Wes mocked. If looks could kill, Wes would've been lying on the floor, dead.

"So, how was life in Sunnydale? I mean, I know it's a crater now, but then," Connor asked, trying to spark a conversation. "Los Angeles isn't that great, but it's better than…never mind."

"Better than what?" Dawn asked. Connor pursed his lips together, and then opened his mouth. He's gonna tell me! Just before he started talking, Anya came out of the warehouse.

"Good! We finally made it!" She was supporting Oz, who was wrapped in a blanket and starring into the great beyond. Dawn shot her a pissed off stare, but Anya didn't see it. "You know, you could've at least walked on your own." She shook her head, blonde curls bouncing about her face.

Connor rushed over to help Oz out, ushering him to the nearby car so he could get warm from the few blankets that were stored in the trunk. "What happened to him?" he asked Anya. She shrugged.

"No clue. He was like that when Faith found him." Anya turned around to leave. "Uh, guys? What happened to the door?"

Illyria stood up, the first time she had moved in a while. She strode over to where the door had been, putting her hand up as if parting the Red Sea. She turned to the small group. "Strong magicks were used to close this entrance. I can sense it with what little power they didn't suck from me." She sneered as she thought of what Wesley had done to her. "They leave me nearly powerless in this shell. I was once an almighty god king. Have they no respect?" she asked herself more than them.

"Well, whatever they did, we've gotta get inside. Buffy-and everyone else-could be in trouble!" Dawn stated the obvious. She sauntered off to find another entrance. "Hey guys! I found one!" Connor and Anya ran to her, Illyria following more slowly. They arrived in time to see Dawn struggling to open the door. "Uh, little help here?"

Illyria shoved Dawn out of the way. With a single tug she yanked the door off of its hinges. A strange squeaking came from the dark. The group leaned in, peering into the darkness. Anya was the first to cry out as a pair of strong arms grabbed her, dragging her into the dark. Three more pairs of arms followed suit, grabbing Connor, Dawn, and Illyria and dragging them to an unknown fate.


	10. chapter 10

(A/N: Hey, great job to everyone before me, this is Buffyfan32578 from  
neopets and this is my second run on the fic, so here's chappie ten!)

Anya screamed and swung her fists wildly, hoping to connect with something,  
anything. She cried triumphantly when the arms released her and she turned to  
face them, arms raised in preparation to 'kick-butt'.  
"Okay, evil..." Her whippy remark failed her when she took in the sight  
before her.  
Fifty or so beasts stood before her. The beasts resembled hunched over men  
with hairy faces and three-inch incisors that protruded from their upper  
lip. Their nails - which once may have been human, were long and  
yellowed, ragged to an edge. They slashed at the air in a menacing way  
and snapped their teeth. They snarled in a way that a man might impersonate a  
wolf - childishly and without real dedication to the act. However displayed,  
though, Anya cringed back, grasping Connor and Dawn by the shoulders and  
shoving them in front of her.  
"Let's just work this out like grown-ups." she said in a tiny voice. She then  
leaned into Dawn who was observing their small group of four."What now,  
Dawn?" Anya asked, impatiently.  
But Dawn ignored her remark and looked uneasily at Connor."Wait a minute,  
where's Oz?" A short snap and a growl answered her, and a scraggly werewolf  
snarled at her."Oh, crap."  
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::  
"This is bloody great, it is. Abso-bloody-lutly lovely. All daisies  
and...flowers, it is." Spike complained of their 'predicament' under his  
breath, dragging deeply on his cigarette before letting the smoke billow out  
in a faint cloud above his head.  
"Y'know, Spike, this is an enclosed area, and I don't look forward to  
developing cancer from second-hand smoke, really." Buffy complained, as  
irked at their situation as he was. She shuffled her feet a bit, wincing when  
it met something solid. Leaning down in the dark, she felt around her foot  
area and her fingers brushed a polished surface. She picked up the large  
stone and hefted it at the door without a seconds pause. The others, too,  
watched while contemplating their own escape theories, and a few cringed  
when the stone stopped mid-air in a blue spiderweb of hexes guarding the  
doorway and the stone was demolished.  
"Why didn't it do that when Spike tried to walk through it?" Angel muttered,  
and Buffy gave him a scolding look, but she was thinking the same thing. How  
was the force-field getting stronger?  
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::  
"So....any ideas? Anybody?" Willow pouted and ran her hands around the door  
that had closed behind them. There was no sign of hinges or a knob, but with  
Willow's, Tara's, and Faith's strength against it, it still held strong.  
"Some light might be good. I can't see to my nose, although no surprise that  
my vision is bad, what with no left eye but you don't see me complaining..."  
Xander sighed, and Willow muttered a word under her breath, and the air  
above them was busy with a thousand humming lights that wiggled in the air.  
"Fireflies."Tara smiled and squeezed Willow's hand. "How romantic  
"Or, ya know, not. They're fireflies cousins, though. They're Lurvies - the  
regurgitated part of a firefly when eaten by a mystical creature."  
"Oh, okay." Tara ducked her head, but held her hand still.  
"So, what now?" Giles interrupted, waking from his thoughtful silence.  
"We could, y'know, try to get through the other door that just appeared over  
there." Faith pointed to the opposite wall.  
Willow turned and followed Faith's vision line. Sure enough, the wall had  
shifted to reveal a rounded doorway with carvings in it's old wood. Willow  
touched the runes and examined the wood. Scorch marks marred its otherwise  
nice finish, as if it had been partially burnt. A bronzed doorknob beckoned  
her. Pulling away from the fascinating attraction she had for it, she faced  
the group, her brows knitted.  
"The wood. It's from an Elder tree, and I don't need to interpret the runes  
to know that we probably don't want to go through that door." She motioned  
for Giles to examine the burnt wood."'Elder be the Lady's tree, Burn it not  
or cursed ye'll be.'" She recited and turned to Giles. Grimly, he nodded and  
motioned for the others.  
"Come on, it's the only way out."  
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::  
Buffy put a hand to her head to ward off the increasing headache. Looking  
around, Wesley and Gunn were doing the same and even Angel and Spike were  
wincing slightly. A thought struck her and she examined the criss-crossing  
web across the door. Every moment her headache increased, the web glowed more  
brightly, and with more power. Wesley, too, seemed to have noticed this.  
"It's seeping our strength."He muttered, "Every moment more we're in here we  
grow weaker and it grows stronger."  
"So what do we do? We can't break through and we can't stay in here long,  
either."Angel spoke up, now firmly pressing his palm to his temple.  
"I don't know, but we'd better figure somethin' out, fast!"Gunn shouted  
over the unbearable pain in his head.  
"Bugger."Spike roared as he was hit by a fit of pain. Pulling his palm away  
from his own temple, he realized that he was closest to the door and the  
spasms hit him quickest and longest.  
Also, his peroxide bleached hair had caught fire from the pulsing web, and  
it didn't smell too peachy, either.  
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Connor winced when the first werewolf attacked him, sinking it's fangs into  
his arm. Cursing loudly, he flung it away with a powerful thrust of his  
arm. He shoved Dawn and Anya behind him and called Illyria forwards.  
"Come on, ya gotta help us out!"He shouted at the fallen entity. She frowned,  
considering him for a moment before nodding and tossing a powerful blow at a  
pair of attacking were-wolves.  
"Don't kill Oz!" Dawn warned as the very scraggly werewolf latched his fangs  
around Connors' arm. Connor glared back at her, but eased his blow to Oz  
anyway.  
Anya screamed again and again as werewolves launched themselves at the  
small front, and Connor was sure that the headache they were giving him  
would kill him before the werewolves had the chance.

(A/N: The italicized piece up there is from the witches rede - one of my  
friends is Wiccan, so I thought I would use that bit.)


	11. chapter 11

Hey I am appledude86 on neopets and a member of the guild. This is my second chapter and it is late again (this happens to be a pattern) but it's really good! I assure you. There won't be a dry eye in the place after you get to the bottom. Enjoy!

: Two weeks later :  
(Wednesday 8:30am)

Buffy yawned as she crossed the upstairs hallway towards the bathroom. It  
had been a grueling stay in London thus far and all she wanted right now was a nice warm bath.  
"Dawn you need to hurry the hell up," Buffy said as she rapped on the closed door.  
"Just a minute I am kinda busy right now," called a muffled voice inside  
the room.  
"What could possibly be taking so long? You have been in there for over  
twenty minutes," yelled a frustrated Buffy.  
"You of all people should understand what I am doing," said Dawn. Xander  
came out of a room further down the hallway. He was walking very rigidly. He  
injured his back in the previous fight. Xander continued towards Buffy.  
"Unless you are taking a scolding hot bath and fantasizing about Brad Pitt,  
no I don't understand what you are doing," said Buffy.  
"It's a girl thing Buffy," yelled Dawn now frustrated.  
"Oh. _Oh_. Do you need a -" Buffy, now realizing Xander was right next to  
her lowered her voice and continued. "Do you need a, you know, thing? Because I have some in my suitcase-"

"No I got it under control Buffy," said Dawn. Dawn emerged from the  
bathroom looking extremely tired.  
"You poor thing. Don't worry I will be feeling your pain in a few days but  
for now I just want to take a nice warm bath. So move. Oh and Dawn you can  
help yourself to a Hershey bar in my room. It helps." Buffy closed the door  
behind her and dropped her robe to the floor. She quickly stood on it realizing how cold

the tile on the floor was.  
> > > > > > > >

Xander walked down the stairs and made his way to the kitchen.

"Good morning," came a voice directing behind Xander.  
"Holy-" Xander, taken by surprised tripped on one of the cracks formed by  
the earthquake and fell onto his already sore back. His eyes or eye fluttered open to

reveal Connor staring down at him.

"Sorry dude are you okay," he asked peering into Xander's face.  
"No problem _dude_ I just hurt my back that's all. A little help here," Xander asked struggling to get up.

"Yeah no prob," said Connor grabbing Xander's arm.  
"Ow ow ow ow. Okay ow," said Xander gripping his back.

"Okay this isn't going to work here I will bring you over to the couch," Connor lifted up Xander into his arms and carried him to the couch.

"Well this is a bit awkward," said Xander resting on the couch.

"I have seen worse," replied Connor.

"So why are you up so early. Shouldn't you teenagers be asleep until noon  
at least," Xander asked.

"I was busy last night. I didn't get much sleep," said Connor.

"Busy...doing...wha-" Xander fell immediately asleep. Connor only smiled  
at him and went upstairs to give Dawn a good morning welcome when a voice  
behind stopped him.  
"You have been busy these past nights. Your secret is safe with me," said  
Illyria emerging from a dark corner. Connor smirked at her and continued  
upstairs.  
> > > > > > > >

Buffy squared her shoulders while she gazed at herself in the mirror. She  
had a long gash down her face from a few nights previous. It was healing  
pretty well, but not as fast as she'd like. Her back was all bruised and she  
broke right index finger as well.  
"I'm getting old," she pouted as she slipped into the warm water. She let  
the water cascade over her shoulders as she lay there in the bathtub. She  
was at peace.  
> > > > > > > > >

As Buffy came downstairs she saw that everyone was mostly up. The morning  
routine had started, people fighting over the last grain of cereal and the  
last drop of milk. Giles was sitting in a reclined chair reading in some  
demon book with a cup of coffee at hand. Willow was enjoying a nice cup of  
green tea and Spike was indulging in a lovely pint of pig's blood.

"Can I pop your tart?" asked Connor jokingly to Dawn. Buffy rolled her eyes  
and continued to the fridge.  
"Strawberry, my favorite," said Dawn smiling at Connor. She all of a sudden  
stumbled and caught herself on the counter. She was clutching her stomach.  
"Are you okay Dawnie?" questioned Buffy as she put her hand on her back  
supporting her.  
"Yeah I am fine. I think it's just the food we had last night that's all,"  
she said as she winced.  
"Oh, well take it easy," said Buffy helping her into a chair. Buffy opened  
the fridge and to her surprise she saw the bottles of Giles' beer start to  
shake. Plates fell from their cabinet almost coming in contact with Willow's  
head.

"God not again!" yelled Angel. Suddenly it stopped. It went as fast as it came, leaving the gang even more confused.

"Maybe it was a truck passing by?" suggested Tara.

"Well if it was I would very much like to call the number on the back of  
those things. Because he must have been driving extremely fast," Willow said  
as she picked up the mug of tea that spilled on her lap. She winced as she  
placed it on the table.

"You guys, am I seeing things or is it-" said a cut off Connor.  
"Getting darker," said Angel standing in the window.  
"Angel! Get away from the window you moron!" yelled Anya.  
"Don't have to," he said as he looked out the window.  
"What the bloody hell is going on," said Giles walking over to Angel.  
"Solar eclipse," Angel replied.  
"Nonsense! I didn't see anything like that on my-" said Wesley.  
"That being the point," said Buffy. "Quick we need flashlights or candles,"  
said Buffy.  
Giles chuckled, "Well it can't get that dark." All of a sudden the light  
disappeared leaving everyone in the dark. It was completely silent.

"I have never seen it this dark since, well, ever," said Buffy.  
"It's completely black out there. I can't see anything let alone anything 3  
feet in front of me," said a puzzled Giles. In the distance they heard a low  
humming. It grew louder and louder with each passing heartbeat. Everyone was  
now standing and alarmed.

"Is it a-" Xander tried to say.  
"Car! Giles move!" Buffy yelled as she threw herself into Giles. The both  
went flying into the living room as the car crashed through the house. Glass  
and wood flew everywhere and rained on the innocent bystanders. The mangled  
car had gone through two walls before finally stopping at the last wall in  
the back of the house.

"Holy-wow," said an amazed Xander. Buffy picked herself up, her head was  
swirling. She couldn't see anything; it was too dark.  
"Is everyone alri-" Buffy was cut off by glass breaking upstairs. Buffy  
spun around facing the stair case.

"Buffy, there isn't anyone in the car!" yelled Dawn.  
"Lucky them," said Buffy who apparently was the only one who heard the  
noise.  
"Uh am I the only one who heard something go bang up stairs?" asked Faith.  
"No," replied Buffy about to start up the stairs. All of a sudden groups of  
vampires swarmed the house, from both floors. The group were desperately  
trying to communicate with each other. Everyone's vision was impaired except  
for Spike and Angel. The two immediately started into action. The only way  
they could defeat them was by means of decapitation. Meanwhile Buffy and  
Faith tried to group everyone together.

"Dawn! Where's Dawn?" asked a frantic Buffy.  
"I am right here. I just can't find Co-" Dawn suddenly fell to the ground  
presumably unconscious. Buffy groped the ground trying to find her sister.

"Angel help me! Where is Dawn?" yelled Buffy.  
"She's to the left," he said as he was fighting two vamps.  
"This way!" said Buffy.  
"No the other way. My left your right. Or your left my right," Angel said  
confusing himself. He started moving his hands to figure out which direction  
Dawn was to Buffy until he was struck down by someone.  
"Try your left Buffy," Spike panted. His voice came the same direction  
Angel's did.

"My left..." Buffy found Dawn's hair. "Here she is!" she said gripping it  
tightly.  
"Ow! Damn it," said Dawn.  
"Oh, you are awake. That was, well awkward," Buffy said.  
"Or painful," Dawn said getting up.

"Where's Angel," asked Buffy.  
"He had to take a time out," laughed Spike. Over the next few minutes the  
gang had managed to find some sort of light and dust almost all of the  
vampires.

All of a sudden a sharp deep voice pierced the air, "The new being must  
die! It must!"

"This is suicide I am getting out of here," another voice replied.  
"Traitor!" the deep voice replied and decapitated him.  
"Hell with this. I value my undead life!" another yelled and made for the  
door and as did the rest of the vampires.  
"We will be back. We will!" the deeper one yelled and vanished. It was calm  
and quiet for what seemed like hours. The light started to come back to London. Slowly

it crept it's way to Giles mangled house.

"Well I think we are going to have to find a new home," said Oz.  
"Say that again," replied Anya.  
"Well I think we are goin-"  
"Where's Connor?" yelled Dawn.  
"Yeah where is he," agreed Angel. The group started to search the house and  
property but no sign of Connor could be traced.  
"Oh..my...God," said Buffy as she was leaning next to the car.  
"What's the matter? Oh my-" Xander said as he immediately turned and looked  
the other way with his hand over his mouth.

"What? Did you find him!" yelled a frustrated Dawn.  
"Holy shi-" yelled Dawn.  
"Dawnie please don't look," said Buffy closing her sister's mouth and her  
eyes and brought her away from the car. Meanwhile Angel awoke from the ground.

"Spike I am going to kill- what's the matter?" asked Angel when he saw the  
crowd form around the car. Willow and Tara were weeping and the rest were  
quiet.  
"Is it- Connor!" Angel rushed over to his son who's upper body was pinned  
against the wall. The rest of his remains were buried under rumbled below  
the car.  
"NO! It didn't happen, it can't happen! He can't be dead, he can't!" yelled  
Dawn who was trying to get out of her sister's grasp. Angel remained quiet  
while a tear slipped down his cheek. Dawn bent Buffy's broken finger to get  
out of her arms and rushed over to her boyfriend.  
The next hour was the hardest and darkest moment the group had seen yet.  
Dawn ended up in Angel's lap weeping with him while the only thing the  
other's could do was stand and watch. Later, Giles had called from a neighbor's

home an ambulance to take Connor's corpse away.  
"No I want it sent to Los Angeles California. Here is the address," said Wesley,

talking to the coroner about Connor's last trip home. Angel had retreated to

the darkest part of the house and wasn't heard from. Dawn had  
tried to go with Connor's corpse but Buffy had stopped her. Dawn collapsed  
on the front lawn as she watched the ambulance drive away. Neighbors were  
outside mumbling to each other as they saw the events unfold. Buffy had  
fallen to the ground with Dawn and embraced her.

"No! He's alive I know he must be alive!" yelled Dawn.  
"Shh... It's going to be okay. Just calm down. He's gone now there isn't  
anything you could have done," said Buffy hugging Dawn.

"I loved him so much!" said Dawn with tears pouring down her face.  
"I know you did I know. He's with mom now. He is all right just try to calm  
down," said Buffy who now had tears coming down her face as well.  
"Buffy it's not only that. I wasn't able to tell him something. Something  
really important!" said Dawn.

"It doesn't matter now just let it go," said Buffy calmly.  
"No it does matter! Buffy I don't know how it happened. We were so careful,  
I have no idea how it happened."

"How what happened," Buffy's voice changed as she withdrew her sister and  
looked her in the eye.  
"Buffy. I-I'm...pregnant," said Dawn.  
"You're what!" yelled Buffy.


	12. chapter 12

Hey everyone, it's me, Erin, AKA buffygirl52789 again. I had a blast writing this chapter, I think you won't be disappointed. Many thanks to everyone who has gone before me, especially appledude for giving me such great material to work with! And good luck to Martin and everyone who is following me! Also, my apology in advance to any Spuffy fans...I just couldn't help myself. XD Please review!

Chapter 12

The two sisters sat there on the dewy grass outside Giles's trashed apartment, staring at each other. Dead silence filled the air.

"Dawn, what did you say," Buffy said, trying to remain calm, dried tears coating her face.

"I said that I'm pregnant," Dawn said loudly, still sobbing.

Buffy pulled her arms away from her sister. "Is it...it's Connor's?"

That caused Dawn to sob harder, while giving her sister a dirty look. "No, it's Xander's," she said spitefully. "Yes, of course it's Connor's! I LOVED him!"

Buffy sat there, shock still, unable to believe what was happening. This whole day just seemed like a horrible nightmare. She tried to compose herself. "You...you slept with him?"

Dawn nodded, her breathing ragged from crying. "Yes. For almost a week now. Please don't be mad at me, I loved him, and he loved me, and I swear that we were careful, we used protection every time! I suspected it, so I took a test this morning, and it was positive, and now he's gone, gone forever and I never even got the chance to tell him," she sobbed. "He left, and now I'm all alone."

Buffy started to cry again. "No, you're not alone, we'll deal with this, we'll deal with this together."

Dawn pulled herself to her feet. Her hair was sticking out, and her face was tear streaked. "You don't understand, he's GONE Buffy!" She shook her head. "You can't possibly understand." She turned and ran away towards the house.

Buffy sat there in the grass, still in shock. She blinked, looking around at the neighbors, who were gathered on their lawns and had watched the entire scene. "What are you looking at?" she yelled. "Go back to your houses! Leave us the hell alone!" The shocked bystanders began to gravitate back inside, whispering to each other.

She stood up and ran her fingers through her hair. How could this be happening? This morning they had just been making breakfast, hanging out, and in just a few minutes everything had gone so horribly wrong.

She wiped her face, not wanting the others to see her so shaken. She began to walk slowly towards the house, thoughts flowing through her mind. _What am I going to tell the others? They're going to find out. But I shouldn't say anything until Dawn calms down, until I can talk to her. And Angel. Oh God, Angel._

She entered the house, moving very slowly. Everyone looked at her as she walked into the living room. Willow, Tara, Xander, and Anya were sitting together on one of the couches, looking sad and uncomfortable. Wesley was talking quietly to Giles in the corner. Spike was sitting in a chair, staring at the ground, Gunn was sitting opposite him looking equally dismal. Oz and Faith were standing near each other across the room, the two outsiders. Illyria stood in the corner, seeming to be very fascinated with a blank spot on the wall that had miraculously remained intact. Angel was nowhere to be seen, and neither was Dawn. Buffy just looked around at everyone, not knowing what to say.

"Dawnie ran upstairs. She's really hurting Buffy," Willow said sadly. "Do you want me to-"

Buffy shook her head. "I think she needs to be alone for a few minutes."

Wesley slowly approached her. "Buffy, Angel disappeared upstairs. He's been up there for over an hour. Maybe you could talk to him, I think he would...respond best to you."

Buffy stared at Wesley. "Angel just lost his son. Can't you let him grieve?"

He took a step closer to Buffy. "Buffy, what happened to Connor is a terrible tragedy. And we are all hurting. But we need to face the fact that his death was the direct result of a vampire attack, most likely the same group we have been dealing with for the past month. We still don't know what they want, and for all we know they are going to strike again while we are off our game. We can't afford to waste time."

"Well you know what, sometimes family has to come first. Connor was the only family that Angel has! You can't expect him to just _forget_ about it, because there's a _job_ to be done," she yelled. "You can't have _any_ idea what Angel is going through right now! None of us can. So he is going to have to take a break from all of this fighting evil _crap,_ and if the rest of you don't like it then that's just tough." Silence filled the room as everyone stared at her in embarrassed shock.

"Buffy, no one expects him to-" Giles interjected.

She held out a hand to silence him. "Don't. Just don't. You guys can deal with the evil, do whatever the hell you want. But Angel and my sister are grieving, and I am not doing _anything_ else until they do." With one last look around she climbed the stairs, leaving everyone staring after her.

Wesley cleared his throat, feeling a little ashamed. "She had a point. We shouldn't expect them to want to help. But that only means more work for the rest of us. We need to find out how to stop these vampires before someone else...gets hurt."

"What do you suggest?" Willow said quietly.

Wesley slumped his shoulders. "I don't know. I really don't know."

Illyria glanced over at them, more interested than usual. She knew what was going on, she had known what the two teenagers had been up to these past nights, and she had sensed Dawn's changed state from the moment she had come downstairs this morning. She didn't like how this situation was making her feel; she was _sorry_ that the boy was gone. He was a good fighter, and she had liked him. And when she looked at the girl, she felt another frightening, foreign emotion: sympathy.

> > > > > > > > >

Dawn sat up in the room she had been sleeping in for the past month, still crying quietly, although she had calmed down slightly. She drew in a jagged breath. She felt as if she was watching her life from an outsider's perspective. It was impossible to comprehend that all of this was really happening.

She stared at herself in the full length mirror that hung from the wall, gathering herself to her feet and walking closer. She pulled her shirt up to reveal her tanned, flat stomach. In just weeks it would be sticking out, showing everyone what she had gotten herself into. She touched her stomach lightly. Inside was her child. Her BABY. Her's and Connor's. Another tear trickled down her still moist cheek. How had this happened to her? It wasn't supposed to be this way. They were supposed to get to know each other better, go on some dates, and then maybe in a few years consider getting married and having kids. But now here she was, 17, pregnant, and completely alone. In the middle of a potential apocalypse.

She turned around and stared at the bed, where all of this had begun...

One Week Earlier

"This is so frustrating. We have been here almost a month and we are still getting nowhere," Dawn said angrily as she and Connor entered her room and closed the door. She collapsed on the bed, sitting next to him. "I think everyone is out of ideas on how to fight these guys, or what they even want."

He rubbed her back soothingly. "Well at least this month hasn't been a total waste. We found each other."

She smiled. "Very true."

He leaned in and kissed her softly. She relaxed against his chest. "Dawn...I've never felt this way about...anyone before."

She looked up at him. "Me neither."

He took a deep breath. "I...I love you, Dawn."

She froze, her eyes wide. "You...really mean that?"

"Yes," he said, relieved to have gotten that off his chest.

"I love you too," she said happily. "I just..it's so soon, it's only been a few weeks, and I didn't want to jump the gun, I was going to wait to tell you, but-"

"Sssshhh," he said quietly. "It's okay. I didn't know that it could happen this fast, falling in love, but it's like we were destined to be together. Like this whole crazy London adventure happened so we could meet."

She inched closer to him. "I do believe in that. Destiny."

"So do I, now more than ever." He kissed her again. "So the way I see it, the longer it takes us to defeat these vamps the better, because the more time I get to spend with you."

She closed her eyes, absorbing his closeness. "Connor...I want you."

He stroked her hair. "What?"

"I want you. I love you. I know that we shouldn't, but I don't care. We're in the middle of all this craziness and right now it's just you and me. Right here," she said, glancing meaningfully at the bed they were sitting on.

"Oh Dawn..." he muttered. He wanted her so badly. For a while he had reminded himself that she was only seventeen, but to him age didn't matter. He also knew that she was a virgin, and he was not. But that also seemed irrelevant. "I couldn't...not until you're sure."

"I am," she said quietly. "I have the protection, I took it from Anya's suitcase. Please, Connor, I want this now." She grabbed a hold of his shirt and pulled him back onto the bed with her. Unable to resist, he kissed her more passionately. They rolled over as clothes started coming off...

A knock at the door jolted Dawn from her thoughts. "Go away," she yelled.

"Dawnie, it's me. We have to talk, please let me in," came Buffy's voice.

Dawn sighed. After a few seconds she opened the door, to see her sister staring at her uncomfortably. "If this is going to be a lecture, you can save it," Dawn said, sitting back down on the bed.

Buffy closed the door behind her. "It's not. It's just that this is a very big thing, and we need to talk about how we are going to deal with it."

Dawn looked at her suspiciously. "What do you mean, _deal_ with it?"

Buffy forced herself to continue. "Well, you know that there are options-"

Dawn stood up. "No. Don't you dare suggest that I have an abortion. Buffy, this baby is the only part of him that I have left. I am having this baby," she said firmly.

Buffy nodded. "I knew you would say that, I just wanted to make sure everything was out in the open." She paused. "How far along are you?"

Dawn shrugged. "A week or less. The...my...our first time was a week ago today."

Buffy frowned slightly. "How did you know so soon? Were you late?"

"Yes. Only two days, but when you've been having sex every night for the past week, it's enough to make a girl take a test," Dawn said somberly.

Buffy looked confused. "Still...isn't that a little soon, to know?"

Dawn sighed, exasperated. "Buffy, I am pregnant. It's not just the test, I can feel it in my bones."

"Well we still need to get you to a doctor. Just to make sure everything's okay," Buffy said. She had to try and handle this in a mature, responsible way.

Dawn shook her head suddenly. "I just don't understand. We were so careful, we used protection, every time!"

"Dawnie you know that it's not a hundred percent," Buffy said softly. "But I have to admit...I'm surprised that you were sleeping together this soon."

"It's not like we planned it. It just kind of happened. Because we wanted it to. And we didn't have any regrets, I still don't," Dawn said, unwavering. She turned to look at her sister. "Buffy, what am I going to do?"

Buffy's heart broke for her. As her sister looked at her, she had the innocence and wide eyes of a young child that had just scraped their knee on the sidewalk. She had to remind herself that this was real, this was an adult situation and it was real. She reached out and took her sister's hand. "It's all going to be okay. I'm here. I am going to be by your side through everything, from your first doctor's appointment to your delivery. We're going to get through this."

Dawn immediately teared up again. "What are we going to tell the others?"

Buffy sighed. "Nothing, yet. We should be able to keep it secret for a while, until we decide what the best way to deal with this is. In the meantime, I want you away from all of the fighting and vampires. Hopefully soon we will take care of this and then we can go back home, to Rome."

Dawn nodded slowly. "Have you talked to Angel?"

Buffy looked down. "No." They sat in silence for a few minutes.

"Go to him Buffy," Dawn said suddenly. "He needs you. I'll be fine. I...I need time, to think."

Buffy nodded. "If you need _anything_, please call me." She pulled her sister into a hug. "I'm so sorry Dawnie." Dawn remained silent.

Buffy stood up slowly. "Try to get some rest. It's been a long day." She exited the room, closing the door behind her.

Dawn sat there, not moving for several minutes. Flashes of memory went by in her mind...

_"Who's that?" _

"I don't know, but he sure is cute."

Connor kissing her for the first time...

"Yeah, it was a great day."

"I think Dawn is capable of handing herself."

"_I feel like you see me differently than everyone else does. And the other night? When you kissed me? That was the best moment of my life._"

_"I know what you mean, when I'm around you, I just...I can't think about anything else." _

"Come away with me...and the best part is, we'll be together."

"Dawn...I've never felt this way about...anyone before."

"I love you too."

"I want you. I love you. I know that we shouldn't, but I don't care. We're in the middle of all this craziness and right now it's just you and me. Right here."

"How do you feel?"

"Amazing."

"Hello lover. Want to spend the night again?"

"You feel so good..."

The image of Connor's dead body popped into her mind, causing her to slap her hands over her ears and rock back and forth. "Oh God," she moaned. "Connor..."

She eventually fell back onto the bed, images of the few precious weeks she had spent with her love coursing through her mind, before crying herself to sleep.

> > > > > > > > > > >

Buffy hesitated before knocking on the door. "Angel? It's me." There was no answer for almost a minute. She was just about to turn away when the door suddenly opened. She turned around to see Angel staring back at her, an expression of complete sorrow gracing his face. Wordlessly she closed the short distance between them and took him in her arms. "I'm so sorry," she whispered.

He let go of her, closing the door. "Let me guess. Wesley sent you."

She looked at him sadly. "Yes. Well, he wanted me to. But I'm here because I care. And I can't stand to see you in so much pain."

He sat down on the bed. "It's my fault. I should have been there, I should have pulled him away from that car, if _Spike_ hadn't knocked me out-"

"Spike did what?" Buffy said, in shock. "Why would he..."

Angel scoffed. "Why do you think? He's been fighting with me for your attention ever since we got into this mess. Captain Peroxide wanted to save the day."

Buffy took a deep breath. "Angel, we're going to get them. The vampires who did this, we'll find them and we'll make them pay for what they did to your son."

"It won't bring him back," Angel said firmly. "He's the only child I'll ever have."

"Don't say that," she insisted.

He stared at her. "Why not? It's true. Let's face it Buffy, I'm doomed. I work for over a hundred years, fighting for redemption, and then I thought that I finally got something in return. Some kind of reward. He was never supposed to exist. The human child of two vampires...it's unheard of. I started to think that maybe, just maybe some higher power was watching out for me. And then, I miss his entire childhood, he comes back hating me, and I start to doubt that just a little. But then...I gave him the life he deserved. And he still found his way back to me, we were making progress, real progress, I think..." his voice cracked. "I think that maybe he was starting to think of me as his father. And then, all of a sudden he's gone. I realize now, I realize that it wasn't meant to be. I'm not meant to ever be happy, I'm meant to live my life just like this, sitting alone in a dark room, waiting for the next fight, the next apocalypse."

Tears ran down Buffy's cheeks as she listened to him. She reached out and touched his face, turning it towards her. "You're not alone. I'm here."

He tried to smile, but failed miserably. "Yes. Sure, you're here. You can sit here and hold my hand, and tell me it'll all work out, but then I remember that I can never have you the way I want, and it only makes the pain more unbearable."

Buffy forced back a sob. "Oh Angel..."

"Don't. Please don't," he begged. There was a long silence, filled only by Buffy's quiet sobs.

"How's Dawn?" he asked finally.

Buffy slumped her shoulders. "She's...she's in a lot of pain. She loved him. I think more than any of us realized." _There was a lot about them that none of us realized._ For a brief second she considered telling Angel about the baby. Maybe it would comfort him, knowing that a part of his son would live on. But she had told Dawn that she wouldn't tell until she was ready, and right now her sister had to come first. Now more than ever. She chose her next words carefully. "But...I think that..." she gave up, realizing that nothing she could say would ease his pain. "Angel...it's okay to cry. You don't have to be strong, it's just me," she said, touching his shoulder.

He looked at her as his eyes started to fill with tears. Soon he was sobbing. She wrapped her arms around him, taking his head in her lap, holding him there and grieving with him.

After a long time they sat there, silent and unmoving. Buffy slowly moved Angel off of her onto the bed. "Rest now," she whispered, squeezing his hand. She turned to exit the room when he stopped her.

"Buffy...thank you."

She bit her lip to stop herself from crying. "Anytime." She forced herself to leave, collapsing against the door once outside.

> > > > > > > > > >

Meanwhile, downstairs, the others were trying to work.

"Sorry Giles, but not even my carpentry expertise can fix this," Xander said gloomily, staring at the extremely mangled house. A few of the walls were already cracked from the earthquake, and today's accident had completely destroyed the walls separating the entryway from the living the kitchen. Basically the whole downstairs was one big, open space.

"I don't think we'll be cooking anytime soon either," Gunn said, staring at the trashed kitchen. The stove was completely ruined, and the microwave was nowhere to be found.

Giles sighed, cleaning his glasses. "It appears I may need to find a new home. Which may be for the better. No offense intended, but it's become a bit crowded since you lot came."

"We could go to a hotel," Oz suggested.

"Hey, these vamps know where we are. I say it would be the smart thing to get our asses out of here ASAP, at least until we know what we're fighting," Faith argued. "All in favor of anywhere but here raise your hands." She raised hers, along with Gunn, Xander, and Oz. Everyone else didn't even seem to hear her. They had been desperately trying to avoid the topic of Connor, but it was clear that it wasn't budging from everyone's minds.

"Willow, have you found anything of use?" Wesley asked tiredly.

Willow shook her head, looking up from the ancient text she had been browsing. "It's hard when you don't even know what you're looking for."

The former rogue demon hunter sighed, closing his own book as well. "Perhaps we should review what we already know. Giles got a call from a friend, saying that a dark power was rising in London."

"And that was a month ago," Giles interjected.

"Don't forget that demon dude said it would be the 'destruction of the world as we know it,'" Xander chimed in.

"We saw them sacrificing a baby slayer," Spike said, speaking for one of the first times since Connor had been taken away.

"At the place where they had me," Oz said. "We still don't even know what they wanted. Or what they've done to the others that were there."

"And don't forget, the locator spell went all kaplooey," Willow added tentatively. Oz being right there was still a little...awkward. She hadn't spoken much to him since he'd arrived, and she hadn't discussed his presence with Tara either.

"Okay, that's good. What else do we know?" Wesley prodded. Dead silence filled the room.

"I think that translates as nothing," Anya said, stating the obvious as usual.

Giles sighed. "We've made a bloody mess of things really." No one could really argue with that. He stood up. "It's been a long day. Why don't we all just get some rest and we can figure out our next plan in the morning."

Everyone stood up and started to talk quietly while moving around, trying to figure out where they were going to sleep tonight. Giles's place wasn't designed to hold fourteen people. Although the previous night, it had been fifteen.

Buffy came downstairs, looking emotionally drained. She stood there briefly, watching everyone, looking for her target. She spotted him across the room, helping Gunn and Xander hand out blankets. She quickly crossed the room until she was standing next to him. "Spike. I need to talk to you."

He looked surprised. "Okay." He followed her out of the room, around the piece of wall that was still standing so they had a little privacy. He was caught off guard when she abruptly slapped him across the face.

"What was that for?" he asked, outraged.

"Oh, don't give me that. Angel told me what you did. Did you really think that would impress me? Knocking him _unconscious_ so that you could play the hero? If you really think that's something I smile upon then maybe you don't know me as well as I thought you did," she hissed. "Angel's son _died_ today. And guess what, I just spent over two hours upstairs with him holding him while he cried. So I guess your little plan backfired, huh Spike? Because at the end of the day, I still ended up with Angel. Hey, you're the one who said it. I don't really love you." She shook her head. "You disappointed me Spike." Satisfied, she turned away and ran up the stairs, leaving him to stand there, wondering what had just happened.

> > > > > > > > > >

"So you are telling me that you left them?" roared the angry voice.

The three vampires who had taken part in the attack on the house earlier winced. "Master, please forgive us-"

"You left the new being there, knowing it's power? It's threat to everything we have worked for?" he yelled.

"Master, they fought back, the slayers, they had stakes-"

"SILENCE!" he bellowed. "You have failed me. Tomorrow, you will bring to me the vessel in which the new being is contained, or else you will all take a little walk in the sunlight. You know the prophecy!"

"Yes, Master, of course," the first vampire stuttered. "From the union of the Key and the Destroyer shall come the One, the One who will end the everlasting battle between good and evil."

"That is why you must bring her to me! If we play our cards right, this child will help us to end this once and for all. Or if we find that it's intentions are not to help our side...then they all must die. Starting with the new life."

> > > > > > > > > >

The first traces of sunlight filtered through the bedroom window, rousing Buffy Summers from her sleep. After dealing with Spike she had come up to find Dawn already asleep, and she had curled up in the chair next to the bed, not wanting to leave her. She hadn't gotten much sleep, with the events of the past month running through her mind. She had started thinking about the baby, Dawn's baby. Her niece or nephew, Angel's grandchild. Something was nagging her, something that the vampires who had driven into the house had said, something that the back of her brain was telling her was important. But she couldn't for the life of her remember what it was, those few terrible minutes were a horrible blur.

Dawn groaned slightly, rolling over onto her front. She grunted, as if in pain. "What the..." she moaned sleepily. Sitting up, she looked down, wondering what she had just rolled over onto. Her mouth fell open when she saw that her stomach was protruding, as if she were about four months pregnant. Her whole body was different. She glanced up in horror at her sister, whose own mouth had fallen open when her sister had sat up, uncovering herself from the blankets. Their eyes locked, a combination of fear and confusion. Just then Buffy remembered what the vampire had said: _The new being must die._

"This is _so_ not good," Buffy sighed.

TBC!


	13. chapter 13

Hi this is martinmartin with Chapter 13. I hope you enjoy it. I had fun with it. Thanks Erin for writing such a great previous chapter. It really helped. If you can review that would be great. So read on.

Disclaimer: I do not own or claim any of the characters used in this chapter of the guild story.

"What? What's not good Buffy?" Dawn asked, her voice cracking a little as she talked.

Dawn knew when something bad was going to happen. Buffy always got that look on her face, the one where her eyes looked drawn back and out of the real world, when something horribly wrong was going on in her head.

Buffy still sat in the chair muttering to herself, not noticing her near frantic sister now sitting up on the bed.

"BUFFY!" Dawn yelled.

Buffy looked up at Dawn, startled out of her thoughts.

"We are in so much trouble," was all Buffy said as she stood up suddenly and headed for the door.

"Buffy, wait what is it?" Dawn asked trying with some difficulty to get out of bed. Her new baby had grown considerably over night and her body was not used to so much weight in her stomach.

Buffy opened the door and scanned the bleak hall for any listeners, and then she quietly, closed the door and turned to look at Dawn.

"There's something about your baby that made those vampires come here. I don't know what it is but we should gather the gang and decide the best action to take," Buffy said in her authoritative voice.

Dawn's face contorted with disbelief and fright. _Uh oh_, Buffy thought. Dawn was about to blow.

"What do you mean gather the gang? They can't know I'm pregnant OVERNIGHT...with Connor's baby! They would kill me", Dawn yelled.

Buffy sighed and collected herself.

"Dawn, we need to find out why those vampires tried to come after us and who sent them. We can't do this alone. We need the whole crew to figure this one out and they need to know all the facts. Including you being pregnant," Buffy said.

There was no fighting it, she was right. Dawn groaned with frustration and sank back onto her bed.

"I don't want to tell them. They'll look at me differently and I don't think I can handle that," Dawn said quietly.

Buffy sat next to Dawn and placed an arm around her sister.

"It's okay, I'll get them all in a room and try to warn them. But no matter what I do, they still won't take this little bit of news too well," Buffy said.

"I know. Just make sure they're all in the same room and I'm like, around the corner so they don't really notice me until you tell them," Dawn said.

"Okay sweetie. I'll go let them all wake up and get set up for breakfast, and then after I'll do that. So just stay up here for a while and I'll tell you when it's all set up," Buffy said smiling down at Dawn.

Buffy stood up and was about to reach the door when Dawn said, " Um and Buffy, can you bring me some breakfast. I'm really hungry."

"Sure", Buffy said as assuredly as she could, then walked out and into the silent hall.

Xander jumped as he turned to see Oz standing silently by the kitchen entrance.

Xander grinned, "Sorry Oz man, I get a little jumpy nowadays. Yah know with the one eye and all my vision isn't as good as it used to be."

Oz had been staring off into space and as Xander spoke he pulled his eyes to meet Xander's one good eye. Oz smiled a little but was still entrapped by his previous thoughts.

Xander knew Oz liked to go off into his own world but, hating the silence, he continued talking.

"Came out for breakfast?" Xander asked Oz but not really expecting a reply.

Oz smiled and walked closer to the counter that stood between him and Xander.

"Faith's snoring kind of kept me awake. And that blue girl…she kept wandering about the living room staring at nothing." Oz said.

"Sorta like you?" Xander said with a laugh, " I know what you mean. She's a touch on the odd side."

"Have you seen Willow at all this morning?" Oz asked.

Xander squirmed under Oz's intent gaze.

Poor Oz. He was still attached to Willow. And she only made it worse by avoiding him and not really telling him about her relationship with Tara.

Xander coughed. "No I haven't seen her. I think she and Anya and Tara are up in their room still."

The silence persisted again and it made Xander more uncomfortable.

Just as he was about to break into some random conversation Buffy walked into the room. Her face was a map that showed she was a girl on a mission.

She walked over to the lower cabinet and pulled out a large skillet. She then walked over to the fridge and pulled out the box with the last couple of eggs in it and began making scrambled eggs.

Xander and Oz, deciding not to bother Buffy, went about the normal breakfast routine; cleaning dirty plates, preparing cereal, and toasting the whole loaf of white bread.

By the time Buffy had finished her scrambled eggs, Xander and Oz had set up toast and a few bowls to feed the rest of the house. Buffy grabbed a plate and fork and placed all the eggs onto the plate and grabbed four pieces of toast.

"Geez Buffy, I didn't know you always ate enough to feed three people," Faith said as she and Buffy bumped into one another as they both had tried to go through the door at the same time.

Buffy only said shortly, "Dawn's hungry," and continued to walk towards the stairs.

Willow and Tara, holding hands, said a fond good morning to Buffy as they passed her in the upstairs hall.

Buffy walked into the room to find Dawn writing in her diary. She walked lightly so as not to disturb her.

Dawn closed her journal and looked up at Buffy.

"Scrambled eggs and toast. Made the eggs myself. Xander may have toasted the bread too much. Hope you don't mind." Buffy said as she set the plate on Dawn's lap.

Dawn began ravenously tearing into her breakfast.

"Thanks Buffy," Dawn said with a full mouth.

"The whole house is awake now and in the kitchen. I'll go get ready to tell them in a bit. Just as soon as you finish eating and they stop their… Dawn?" Buffy asked looking at her sister's pained face.

Dawn lurched up off the bed, almost spilling the whole plate, and stumbled towards the door.

"I think I'm sick," Dawn said stiffly.

She struggled with the doorknob and finally opened the door. Buffy could only look sympathetically after Dawn as she rushed into the bathroom.

Buffy stood alone in the hall feeling torn between decisions. Throughout the morning she had been thinking over whether she should tell Angel about the pregnancy before everyone else. He was the closest to Connor right next to Dawn and she really cared about him.

"Angel?" Buffy called softly into the dark room.

There was no answer.

Knowing he was hidden in the darkness somewhere, Buffy allowed her eyes to adjust to the dark before fully walking into the room and closing the door.

Once her eyes had become accustomed to the lack of light she moved slowly over to the far corner of the room where Angel sat in a crooked chair. He made no move to acknowledge her arrival, only sat staring at the same spot on the wall, clenching his fists.

Once Buffy reached him, she knelt at his side and placed a caring arm over his shoulder. He moved a little at her touch but still did not face her.

Buffy moved her face close to his and whispered gently, " Angel I need to tell you something…before anyone else even knows. I'd feel really bad if you weren't the first person to find out this."

Angel looked up a little at her words. He could sense that this was something important, but he did not urge her on.

"Angel after Connor …died I found out something about Dawn, something you should know since it involves Connor. She and, well um, he got together and you know how they were all close and all well…I can't put this any gentler but… Dawn's pregnant with Connor's child," Buffy said apprehensively.

The silence enveloped the room as the realization hit Angel like a ton of bricks. Buffy could feel his body tense as rapid thoughts raced through his mind. He turned, faced her and sat up straighter.

"You mean that Dawn is pregnant with my son's child?'" Angel asked incredulously.

"That's about it. And it's even more confusing than that. The vampires that came here were after the baby. And somehow the baby has grown almost overnight and now Dawn is really showing it," Buffy said.

Angel paused for a moment, thinking over the news.

"We need to tell the others and figure out why and who would come after the baby," Angel said as he straightened up out of the chair.

Buffy could never have loved him more in that moment where he took control over the situation without questioning her or Dawn and Connor's actions. She followed him out of the room.

"Where's Dawn?' Angel asked calmly.

"In the bathroom with morning sickness. There must be something mystical about the baby or it wouldn't have grown that fast in one night," Buffy answered.

"I'll go get everyone in one room and once Dawn is feeling better you and she can come down and we can tell them about the baby," Angel said.

The awkwardness of the situation became apparent, as Buffy and Angel were about to go their separate ways. They shared a glance and then headed off in opposite directions.

"Dawnie are you okay?" Buffy asked through the slightly cracked door.

The toilet flushed and Dawn slowly came from out of the bathroom. Her chestnut hair was plastered over her sweaty forehead and her eyes looked tired.

"Oh Dawn," Buffy said and she took her sister in her arms and held her for a few moments.

"Having a baby isn't as easy as it looks," Dawn said, trying to lighten the mood.

"Are you feeling okay? Are you ready to go downstairs?" Buffy asked leading Dawn to her room.

" I want to change first before I go down," Dawn said.

"Okay, I'll go downstairs and when you're ready you can come. Do you want me to tell them now before you get down?" Buffy said.

"Yeah, you can do that. By the time you tell them I'll be dressed and ready," Dawn, said with a smile.

"Okay," Buffy said as she headed out.

"Oh and Buffy… no more eggs and toast for breakfast," Dawn said just as Buffy was closing the door.

"Okay, next time something else," Buffy said.

Buffy walked into the small and damaged living room to see that almost everyone was present. She spotted Angel standing next to Wesley and Gunn and started over in his direction. Casual conversations were going on all around her but she only had eyes, and ears, for Angel.

"Are we all set?" Buffy asked Angel.

"Giles and Xander are coming in a bit…oh wait there they both are. I guess we are," Angel said.

Gunn and Wesley both felt the importance of the upcoming meeting kept silent but attentive. Anya went on with her conversation with Oz even when the silence was almost complete.

" So I said to this Mok'tagar demon ' There's no way in helvete that you can just walk, well transport yourself in here and take my avenged one's soul'. But he just had to be all…" Anya said.

"Um Ahn. I think Buffy and Angel have something to say to us," Xander said awkwardly.

Anya huffed at Xander and reluctantly gave her attention to Buffy.

Buffy cleared her throat and started to talk.

"Well we, Angel and I, have called a meeting today to discuss the possibilities of why we were attacked by those vampires," Buffy said.

"We need to know who more than why so we can find this person or thing and kill it," Faith said.

"I agree with Faith on this one. We should find out who first," Xander said.

"Then we can find out why it was done easier," Willow said.

"Why are we wasting time with this anyhow? Just make the stuffy British folk research and we'll all relax until they figure it out," Anya said.

"We don't have enough information to research with," Wesley said.

"We only have a gang of vampires that attacked randomly and kill…" Gunn trailed off.

Eyes were turned to Angel but he was lost in his own mind.

_Well thanks for helping out_, Buffy thought sarcastically.

"Well we can still try and research, it w-would help a little," Tara said shyly.

"We can wait here till another attack or go out and do something instead of sitting around like ninnys," Spike said.

Buffy glared at him but Spike seemed strangely interested in his overcoat.

"Your talk of plans is trivial, a human fault," Illyria said.

By now, most in the room had learned to ignore the strange blue creature that spoke at odd times.

"That's what this all comes down to. We need to know why, who and where to go. And I think Buffy called the meeting to discuss that," Giles said.

"Well it's about that but there's something else too," Buffy said, drawing out her words.

"Dawnie, you okay now," Willow said looking up at the half hidden Dawn.

Buffy and Dawn looked at each other quickly and Buffy coughed.

"What I mean is there is something about…" Buffy strained to spill the truth.

Dawn stood still hidden, giving no help and Angel merely stayed where he was, leaned up against the wall behind Buffy.

All attention was now on Buffy but she couldn't seem to talk.

Angel stood close to Buffy and was about to finish Buffy's lost sentences when Illyria interrupted him.

"The young human, Dawn, is to be the mother of the vampire's son Connor", Illyria said bluntly.

Immediately the room was afire with discussion.

"You mean pregnant?"

"Dawn?"

"Hey at least it's not me."

"Congratulations! Is it a boy or girl? What is it going to be named?"

"I-I-I-I can't understand how."

"Well isn't it obvious, they were sleeping together."

"Wow, that's pretty disturbing."

"Little Dawn too."

"She's not that little, considering she's pregnant already."

"Did you use protection?"

"This has to do with the attack."

"Pregnant! God that is so weird."

"How was it?"

"Will you all stop this?"

"Looks like the Angel boys always find a way to get the Summer girls."

"Eww and he is…wasn't even human."

"SHUT UP! Just shut up all of you! We were meant for each other and I guess meant to have this baby so you all can just deal with it. If you just want to gossip over this you can but I'm going to find out why they came and killed Connor," Dawn said passionately as she stood now in full view.

It pulled at Buffy's heart to see her determined tear streaked sister defending her dead lover and baby in front of everyone.

"Dawn…" Buffy tried to say but Dawn had already rushed back up the stairs. The slam of her door shook the house.

No one spoke after the rampage but looked to the figures of the most authority.

"That's what Angel and I called you all here for. To tell you that Dawn is pregnant with Connor's baby and that this baby is somehow mystical and has grown in less than a night. So we need to accept what has happened and work to find a reason why someone would come after Dawn and her baby," Buffy said.

Buffy stepped down to allow Giles and Wesley to mobilize the team.

"Wesley and I will retrieve more books for information. Willow, Tara, Anya help with the research. Xander and Oz start fixing the house for another attack," Giles said.

"You mean like garlic, stakes, and boards?" Xander asked.

"Yes exactly," Giles said.

"Gunn, Spike and Illyria you will gather weapons in case of another assault," Wesley said.

"Oh good, a whole lotta nothing to do for a while," Gunn said.

"I'll go sharpen up my weapons too. In case big action comes along," Faith said.

"Giles, why don't Tara and I try to put up a shield around the house," Willow said.

"I'm not too sure about that. Whoever is planning this must be very powerful and I'm not so sure that you can handle the power that would be required to sustain a shield with that kind of strength," Giles said.

"Well it's worth a try," Willow said.

"And I'll be her anchor in case anything goes wrong," Tara said.

Giles relented and turned to gather his coat.

Wesley started out the door to start up the scrawny rental car.

Buffy was already heading up the stairs to comfort Dawn and Angel had gone up to his room while the others had been talking.

"Shouldn't we move to another place, a safer one?" Faith asked.

"They already know where we are, I think it will be of no use to run now," Giles said.

"It's getting pretty dark now. I wonder when Giles and the others will get back," Tara said to the two women sitting silently beside her.

"They're probably really looking for books that will of use to us," Willow said tiredly.

"When will we be done with this research crap?" Anya whined," We've been here for almost a whole afternoon and now into a night researching nothing."

"Who knows..." Xander said walking into the room. He was covered with a fine dust from working on fixing the house.

Oz walked up from behind him, covered as well, and sat down in a chair across from Willow. He was silent and thoughtful.

"Has Buffy or Dawn or Angel come down at all?" Xander asked.

"Buffy came down once or twice to get food but other than that she's been up talking with Dawn and Angel," Tara said.

"We still waitin' for Giles and the others?" Xander asked.

"They should be here soo..." Willow said but was interrupted by the sound of a car door slamming.

Everyone stopped and listened.

"Yes Rupert I have the Book of Tarnis I made sure I had it before we left," Wesley said.

"Good, well then we should be all set for a night of...Ommmpphh" Giles said as he walked right into Willow's energy field.

Willow, followed closely by most of the rest of the household, came running out the door.

"Solvo vinculum of lux lucis quod tutela super is locus," Willow muttered and the force field opened.

"Sorry Giles, we should have told you that we already did the house protection spell," Tara said while she and Willow helped him up.

"No, it is very good," Giles said breathlessly.

"Well it should keep us safe for a while," Wesley said as he walked into the house with an armload of texts.

"We should go inside now, the sun is almost set," Gunn said, also walking into the house.

"But what about Spike and Fre- Illyria?" Willow said.

"They will be here shortly. They are traveling by sewer lines," Giles said.

"Okay, then I'll just leave the field open until they get back," Willow said.

As soon as they had walked inside Buffy was there waiting for any breakthroughs.

"So? Did you find out anything?" Buffy asked.

"We have many resources to look through at the moment. We will tell you when we find anything," Wesley said to her without even looking up from his books.

"We need to get ready. I know that they'll come again tonight," Buffy said.

"Okay then," Faith said, walking into the common room, " Let's go. I'm ready for this."

"Giles, you Wesley, Tara, Willow and Anya start looking into these books. Faith, Gunn, Xander, Oz go gather weapons and keep watch. When Illyria and Spike get back, tell them to do the same. I need to go check on Dawn and tell Angel to get ready," Buffy said.

The authority of her speech set them straight and all went about filling out their orders.

"Dawn you ready?" Buffy asked into the shadowed room.

She could see Dawn nod and start to get up out of her chair. The baby seemed to keep growing. In just one day it had increased in size rapidly and Dawn was having trouble coping with the changes.

Buffy helped Dawn up and led her out to the hall. Angel was standing there waiting. Dawn and Angel looked at each other and in that moment realized how much they both missed Connor. They came together, hugging, having no words to express their feeling of loss but just being there for each other. Buffy stood back and allowed them their moment.

"Are your vampires in position?" A deep voice asked, shattering the dead silence.

The bravest of the three vampires that stood before him cringed in fright.

"Y-y-y es my lord. They are ready at my- your command," he said quietly.

"Good," The demonic being said with a laugh, "Send them in. Order them to kill all the others except the vessel in which the being is held. No harm is to come to her or the child. Do you understand me?"

" Y-yes my master. We understand. No harm to the vessel or the child," the vampire said.

"As soon as you have her bring her immediately to me," the being said, " Now GO!"

The three vampires rushed out of the stone room and fled to the outside.

The dark being laughed to himself at the fear of the insolent vampires.

"Soon the child will be mine," he said to the silent room.

"_And out of the Key and the Destroyer shall come a being that will tip the balance in favor of whosoever possesses it,_" Anya read aloud to herself.

"What Ahn?" Xander asked coming into the room.

"Oh nothing. I can't even find anything about a prophecy about Dawn's baby. All these books are giving me a headache," Anya said.

Xander nodded and sat down in the chair next to her.

"It's okay. At least you're trying your hardest," Xander said.

"Yah, while everyone else is out preparing for a vampire attack. It's just me alone in here," Anya said.

"Well it's dark now so we're all preparing for the worst. In a bit you won't have to look through books anymore," Xander said, trying to be comforting.

"I hate looking up this stuff that I don't even understand. Like what is the Destroyer anyhow? And what is "The Key"? I just don't get it," Anya said.

"Well maybe it's …." Xander paused, thinking something over in his head.

"Hello? Xander? Fine ignore me," Anya said.

"Anya what did this prophecy thing say about the Key?" Xander asked.

"Well I don't know really. It was in some demon language that I'm only slightly familiar with," Anya said.

"Just tell me," Xander said urgently.

"Okay okay. Something about the coming together of the Key and the Destroyer making a thing that would help the good guys or the bad guys… Wait Xander. What is it?" Anya said to Xander as he hurried out of the room.

"Well we don't have much choice now. It's too late to move. We're stuck where we are right now," Wesley said to Faith and Gunn.

"Guys, we've got the prophecy. Anya found it," Xander interrupted.

"Let me see it," Wesley said.

Xander and Wesley found a still confused Anya sitting at the table and the prophecy.

Wesley's face was grim as he read through the script.

"Well? Is that the prophecy?" Xander asked.

"Yes, I'm afraid it is. It may have been wiser to leave here at once," Wesley said as he set down the book.

"What do you mean," Xander said.

"The being that we encountered a few months ago, well I believe that he or it is going to be coming after Dawn and her baby," Wesley said as he started out of the room.

"So you're saying we're in trouble," Xander said following him.

"We need to tell the others. Now!" Wesley said.

"No need 'cause the vamps are already here," Faith said.

Wesley and Xander looked through the blinds of the living room window and could see the shadows of many beings.

"We are in so much trouble," Xander said as Faith handed him a stake.

"Does Buffy know this?" Wesley asked.

"Should. Just sent Spike up to tell her," Faith said.

Spike arrived upstairs to find Angel and Dawn locked in a hug and Buffy standing by.

Once Buffy saw him, she frowned and walked towards him. She opened her mouth, about to tell him off.

"Vamps are here. Don't know how many. Starting to make a move. We need to get everyone downstairs," Spike said before Buffy could harass him.

Buffy quickly turned to Angel and Dawn.

"Angel we gotta get downstairs," Buffy said.

Angel untangled himself from Dawn, gently held her arm and led her down the stairs with Bufy and Spike ahead of him.

"Did they find anything about Dawn?" Buffy asked.

"Yeah, Dawn and Conneo's kid is important to some evil demon that we almost got killed by two months ago. Vamps are probably here to kill us and take Dawn and her baby," Spike said rather bluntly.

"Can't we get away somehow?" Dawn asked.

"Willow put up a shield so we'll be safe for a bit. But no, we're surrounded so we're stuck," Spike said not even turning around to face them as he spoke.

Dawn could feel tell that Spike was bitter towards Angel and Buffy but he didn't have to be so harsh to her.

The four arrived downstairs to find that the whole gang was prepped for battle. Willow and Tara stood near the door muttering spells under their breath. Gunn, Illyria, Wesley, and Giles all were positioned behind Willow and Tara. Xander, Anya, and Oz stood together behind Wes and Giles.

"Buffy, you and Angel keep Dawn to the back of us," Giles said.

Spike took up his position beside Gunn as Buffy and Angel took up guard on either side of Dawn.

"They've started moving in. Willow and Tara are trying to keep . . ." Giles said.

"Will?" Buffy asked worriedly.

A green glow was forming through the door and it seemed that Willow was trying to fight it off.

"Willow, are you okay?" Xander said from behind Buffy.

"Permissum crepusculum of crepusculum shroud mihi in tutela , Permissum Mos nemus humus mihi ut Matris Terra , Permissum occasus ventus shroud mihi ex totus malum , Tribuo mihi vires , ut EGO may fulsi per lux lucis Quod addo tutela ut …... Ahhhhh," Willow screamed as an invisible force threw her across the room.

Tara cried out to Willow but got no response.

"Everyone get ..." Giles started to say when the vampires came pouring into the house.

The lights went out and the group was left in darkness. Spike and Gunn led the fight out in front and Illyria, Giles, and Wes covered the sides.

Spike and Angel yelled orders to the others in the dark. Buffy kept Dawn just behind her at all times and used all of her slayer ability to fight away the vamps.

"Giles, we have to get out of here," Buffy yelled into the dark.

"I know! There's a sewer entrance out back on the street. If we can get out that way then we may stand a chance," Giles said.

"Whatever chance we can get, let's take it." Buffy screamed at him.

Buffy turned to Dawn and said quietly, "When I say go, run as fast as you can to the back door and get to the sewer. OK."

Dawn answered, " No I don't want to leave you guys here."

Buffy said to her, " You can't fight. Just run when I say go."

"Ok." Dawn answered.

Just as Buffy got a slight glimpse of a vampire she screamed at Dawn, " GO!"

Dawn started running. She had only taken about three steps when the back door flew open and the light from outside hit his face.

Dawn whispered to herself, " Connor?"

He stood in the doorway bathed in light. For a moment he looked like the angel she knew he was but then she caught his eyes. They were lifeless and cold. He had a twisted smirk on his face and held a crude stone dagger in his hand.

Buffy turned to see if Dawn had gotten outside but instead saw Connor standing in Dawn's way.

"Honey . . . I'm home," Connor said creepily as he moved towards the paralyzed Dawn.

"Dawn! Move," Buffy screamed. But Dawn wasn't listening.

Buffy was so concentrated on getting Dawn to move she couldn't hear Angel yelling at her to duck. The last thing Buffy saw before blacking out was Conner walking towards Dawn and all she could think about doing was saving her sister. Then everything went black.

Okay that's it for my chapter. Hope you all liked it. I have to thank my lovely sister for helping me get out of those times when I had writer's block. Also without her I wouldn't have had such a cool little ending. So thanks to her. Also thanks to my mom for being my editor. Good luck to the next person up.


	14. chapter 14

Hi this is angelnbuffyforever on neopets or lilsoccercutie55 on I know it took me a long time to write this but I hope everyone likes it!

Chapter 14

"Connor?" Dawn called out weakly. She had never seen him look that way at her before. It terrified her to the point that she would never be able to describe the way she was feeling right now.

'It's me Dawnie, it's me your lover," he called out evilly, walking over to her. Dawn couldn't speak anymore, all her eyes were focused on now was that dagger held in Connors hand.

Tara was still trying to get a response out of Willow when she saw the ghost of Connor walking over to Dawn. Right away she could tell that he wasn't Connor. She quickly stood up, and shouted out a spell. "Hecerupe de riem a miatelenes babele te ruro!" She then found herself being thrown across the room by the power of the spell. She knew that she was too weak to stand up, but she made her body sit up enough so she could see if her spell had actually worked.

Dawn's eyes widened as what once was Connor's body turned into dust particles in the air. She felt tears roll down her cheeks as she came to the realization that she had just lost him again. She felt herself being lifted from ground by Xander. "It's alright Dawnie, we're getting you out of here," Xander reassured her as he made his way down into the sewers. He hated leaving everyone behind, and he knew if anything happened to them he would never be able to forgive himself. For now though, he had to get Dawn out of harm's way. He knew that was what Buffy would want.

Angel was still trying to dust a vampire, but he wasn't able to concentrate, all he could focus on was Buffy's lifeless body in the corner. He swore if he had lost her, he wouldn't be able to go on. With that thought he slammed the axe which he was fighting with through the vampire's neck, sending him to dust land. He immediately took all his anger out on the vampires who had hurt Buffy. He went from one vampire to the next, making each one of them into a pile of dust. He finally stopped when the last one was gone. He looked around the room which now was filled with light. In the middle of the fighting the electricity must have come back on, he had failed to notice it until then.

Almost everyone was lying on the ground. Willow looked like she had just been run over by a bulldozer, and Tara was bleeding from a cut on her head. Faith was looking out the dirty window, making sure there wouldn't be any more vampires coming their way. "Where's Xander and Spike?" Angel asked not really caring about either of them, when he realized Buffy was still over in the corner. He quickly forgot about his question, and ran over to her. He felt for a pulse, knowing all eyes were on him now. He could feel the eyes of her beloved friends staring at his back, waiting for what he would say next.

He smiled lightly when he felt a faint pulse. "She's alive," he said with great gratitude to all of the powers in the universe, for not taking away his Buffy. Willow was finally able to get enough strength to go over to Buffy, and start saying a healing spell. Angel went back to the group, which now consisted of Faith, Giles, and Tara. "Where are Spike, Xander, and Dawn?" he said, becoming full of fear again when he realized he had lost track of Dawn through all the commotion.

"Xander and Dawn are in the sewers waiting for us. I saw him take her after I did the spell which got rid of the demon that had pretended to be Connor," Tara said, wiping the blood from her face.

"And Spike, where is that idiot?" Angel said, not realizing that he would soon wish he had cared more about Spike.

Faith looked at her hands; truth be told she had done everything she could trying to block the vamp from attacking Spike. She had been too late though. The vamp had decapitated him, sending him into another pile of dust. "He's dead Angel, he didn't make it," Faith said to him sadly.

Angel shook his head in disbelief, he wouldn't say it because he knew it would sound incredibly harsh, but he was happy to hear of his death. He had killed his son, or at least been a huge reason why he didn't have a son anymore.

"Why doesn't someone go get Xander and Dawn from the sewers?" Angel suggested, going back to where Buffy was now sleeping.

He heard a scream from Tara when the door opened again. Oz, Anya, Gunn, Illyria, and Wesley came in looking pretty beat up. They immediately saw Buffy lying what looked like dead on the floor, Angel heard the gasp in fear. "Is she...ya know…dead?" Gunn asked very solemnly.

"No, thank goodness, she's just sleeping right now," Willow explained, walking over to Tara and cleaning up her cut.

"Well that's good news I guess, we have some bad news though," Oz said, while eyeing Willow and Tara jealously. He knew if he wanted to be truthful with himself, he still loved Willow. She was the first girl he had ever loved, and she hadn't even freaked out when she found out he was a werewolf.

Willow looked up and smiled weakly at Oz. It was very uncomfortable to have him here, but she knew he would be an asset when they had a battle. She was right about that too, she didn't know what she would have done if he hadn't been there to help fight this battle. Now there would be another battle between them, when she decided to tell him about Tara. She knew she had to do it soon, Tara didn't deserved to be played like this. "What is it Oz?"

"One of the vampires, before we dusted him, he said something about that prophecy, and how they weren't the only ones who knew about it. He said that even if we killed all of them, there would always be more coming. He said the baby was an important asset to opening hell into the earth," he explained, sitting on the ripped up couch.

The group fell silent for a moment, all trying to rack their brains for something to save Dawn and her baby. Their thoughts were interrupted when Xander came into the room, carrying Dawn whose stomach had begun to grow even more. Oz stood up from the couch so Dawn could be put down to get some rest.

Dawn looked around at all the questioning eyes that stared at her. She didn't mean to yell, but found she couldn't hold it in anymore. "Will you all please stop staring, it's making me uncomfortable!" she shrieked causing everyone to look away immediately.

Angel looked over at Dawn and looked at her stomach. He didn't know what was going to happen when she gave birth to the baby, but what he did know was that what lied inside of her was his grandchild; the only thing that remained of Connor, and he would protect it with everything he had. "Do you want to go lie down upstairs Dawnie?" he asked softly.

Dawn took one more glance at all of what she thought were judgmental looks, and nodded a yes to Angel. When he went over to pick her up though, she stood up hastily. "I may be pregnant but my legs still work," she said narrowing his eyes at him, before walking up to her room.

Angel shook his head and then looked up at everybody. "You know, you're not making this any easier on her. The least you could be right now is understanding and compassionate," Angel said, sitting down next to the still sleeping Buffy.

"We're sorry Angel, but it's just a big shocker. A week ago she was Buffy's little sister and the child who we all looked out for. And now, well she's having her own little one," Willow explained, looking guiltily at her hands. She hated to admit it, but she couldn't help but look at Dawn differently. She had watched that little girl grow up, she had never imagined her losing her virginity at 17, and becoming pregnant.

"Well you're going to have to get over it, because right now we have a terrified and confused 17 year old girl upstairs who is about to have a baby. Her sister is hurt, and who knows when she's going to wake up. Her mother is dead, and father might as well be. All she has right now is us, and the way you all are acting is giving her the impression she doesn't even have that," Angel said stroking Buffy's hair, hoping she would wake up soon. It was always easier with Buffy around, just having her give him a reassuring smile would give him enough confidence to fight.

Meanwhile Dawn was lying down upstairs trying to get a nap, when she started to feel something kicking against her stomach. She looked down, and she knew that the baby wouldn't be anything bad, if she was able to protect it from all the badness in the world. She just wanted so badly for Connor to be with her through all of this. God how much she missed him, and when she his face in the light it was the first time she had felt happy since he had died. However she had known something was different as soon as she looked into his eyes, they weren't the same eyes she had made love to, and created a child with. Those eyes belonged to a monster that she would never let into her life. She just wished there was a way to bring him back to her. With that thought she fell into a deep sleep, where Connor was there. They were both surrounded by light, and looking into a crib at a beautiful baby girl.

"Dawnie, no matter what happens next you have to be strong for the both of us. Don't ever give up, you're the strongest women I have ever met and I know you can take care of our baby. Just don't ever let her go astray because that is when you'll lose her Dawn. I love you girl, and don't ever forget that. I love you." And with those final words Dawn woke up panting, and looking around for her lover. When she saw there was no one but her, she felt like dying. She was all alone again, but she remembered his words, about never giving up. "I guess I'll do this for you then Connor, I'll raise our baby, and make you proud," she whispered into the air, and she swore that she heard just a little voice that said, "you already have."

When Buffy woke up, her vision was blurry at first, but then it became clearer. She sat up slowly making sure she had the strength. When she looked around all her friends were sleeping. "We must have won," she thought to herself. She then found Angel's angelic face sleeping next to the couch, and she smiled. He had gone through so much, and yet he still had that so innocent look on his face. She loved him more than life itself. She gently touched his face with her hand, and smiled. At that moment she knew whatever would happen next they would get through it. Dawn would be alright, and so would the baby. "We just have to be alright," she said just above a whisper, trying to convince herself.


	15. chapter 15

Hey everyone, harmony910, or Tara Summers, again! This is my second chapter I've written, hope you like it!

Chapter 15

Dawn sat down at her desk, arranging herself so that her bulging stomach wouldn't get in the way, and began to write in her diary. She felt like it had been forever since she had done so, but she thought that if – god forbid – anything happened to her, someone might read her diary and know what she wanted.

"I'm writing this in case anything should happen to me during or after my baby's birth. This wonderful precious thing growing in me has made me think. In the past few years, I've really grown up. My sister died instead of me, and that somehow made me more mature. I survived the destruction of Sunnydale. Everything – including Connor and Spike's deaths – has made me more mature.

"With this new found maturity, I came upon a name for my sweet little baby. If it's a girl, I wanted to name her Arianna. I've always liked that name; it's just so cute. And if it's a boy, I want to name him after the man who made my child possible: Connor. If anything were to happen to me and someone were to find this diary and read it, that is what I ask. Please make my wish come true."

Dawn sat the diary aside and wiped a tear from her eye. _All this talk about death and maturing is too depressing. I need to get something to eat._ She waddled from her room and made her way to the kitchen downstairs. Willow, Tara, Faith and Illyria were in the kitchen. No one made a sound; it was as if they were making some sort of tribute to Spike by being silent.

Dawn cleared her throat and turned to Willow. "Does…Buffy know…about Spike?" Willow shook her head sadly. Dawn sighed. "I think I should be the one to tell her."

Faith grabbed her arm. "Dawn, I don't think that's a good idea."

"What's not a good idea?" Buffy asked as she came into the kitchen. She looked at everyone's somber faces. "What? What happened?" she asked, suddenly panicked. "Dawnie, what happened?"

Faith, Willow, Tara, and Illyria cleared out, knowing that Dawn would prefer to be alone with Buffy when she broke the horrible news of Spike's death. "Buffy…I don't know how to tell you this. I'm…so sorry." Dawn began to cry.

"Dawnie, please, what happened?"

"It's…Spike. One of the vamps last night…they decapitated him, and…he's dead!" Dawn began sobbing all over again.

Buffy was silent, and her mouth hung open. The feelings that rushed through her head made Buffy feel like her head would explode. Her lower lip began to quiver. And then the dam broke. Floods of tears flowed from her eyes as feelings for Spike – feelings that Buffy had thought she'd gotten rid of – came back when she learned of his death. In the silence of the kitchen, Dawn and Buffy held each other, weeping.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Angel sat in his room, blinds and curtains drawn, all lights off. No matter how much he wanted to deny it, Angel was upset that Spike had died. Not as much as he was when Connor died, or when Darla had died to save Connor, but he was still upset. "So much grief in the past few years. I don't think we can handle anymore," he muttered to himself. Someone knocked on the door. "Go away!" he cried. But they didn't, and Tara entered his room. "Tara, I'm sorry, but I'd prefer to be alone."

Tara shook her head. "No one deserves to be alone." She made her way to his bed and sat beside him. "I-I don't know you that well, but I think that you just need to cry. Crying i-is helpful, you know."

Angel shook his head. "I'm not supposed to cry. Vampires and grown men don't cry."

Tara placed her hand on his. "That's where you're wrong. Everyone cries. When Buffy leapt off the tower to save the world and we found her body, Giles cried. And so did Spike. Everyone cried. That's how we let it go. It's not healthy to keep all those bad feelings bottled inside." She embraced Angel in a hug.

That's what did it for Angel. Someone he hardly knew was willing to help him grieve, and she'd even given him something that people rarely gave him: a hug. In the dark, Angel wept on Tara's shoulder. And he felt…slightly better. _She's right. It isn't healthy to bottle it up._ Tara rocked him slowly as he let his feelings out.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Buffy entered the living room, wiping her eyes with her hands. She'd had Dawn round everyone up and herd them into the living room for a pep talk. "Okay everyone, this has gone too far. We have to stop them. We have to avenge Connor and Spike. They _will_ pay for this." Buffy looked everyone in the eye, lingering slightly on Angel. His eyes were red, and the area around them was slightly swollen. _Like he's been crying,_ she thought. She flashed him a half-smile of encouragement. He gave her one back. "We're going to find these guys and kill them all."

"Willow, I need you and Tara on the witchy-ness. Locate them, no matter what it takes. Got it?" The girls nodded. "Good. If you need it, I'm sure Wes and Giles can help." The two former Watchers nodded in agreement. "Everyone else, you're on weapons crew. Gather up all the weapons you can possibly find, and if they need to be fixed, fix 'em. I want to be as prepared to kick these guys' asses as possible." Everyone nodded and set off to do the job that had been assigned to them.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The vampire master looked on as the sorcerer he had hired chanted a spell that few people knew. This spell would make his plans complete. "They'll never see it coming," the master muttered aloud. He turned to his minions and cleared his throat. "Tonight is the night. We must kill the new being before it is born, and that time has come. So prepare yourselves!"

"M-master? There are several hours until darkness falls; it is still daylight," one of the master vampire's assistant pointed out.

Instead of being angry for the assistant pointing out a mistake, the master smiled a toothy smile. "That is being taken care of."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Oh boy," Faith muttered as she looked out the kitchen window. Buffy and Dawn hurried over to see what was going on. "Something really freaky is going on with the sky."

As the three girls watched, the sun rushed through the sky as if the day were on fast forward. People outside were going through their days in fast forward also, not seeming to notice the extreme change in speed. Buffy glanced at the wall clock and the stove clock. "The clocks are changing that quick. Maybe whatever's going on only affects outside the house."

"Well if so, we might need to start worrying," Dawn stated.

"Why?"

"Maybe the fact that the quickness of time has stopped, it's dark outside, and there are about twenty-three vampires on the front lawn." Sure enough, hidden in the darkness, only the golden hue of their eyes glowing, were a large handful of vampires. Dawn grabbed her stomach, a look of pain on her face.

"Dawn, are you okay?" Buffy asked. Dawn nodded. "Are you sure?" She nodded again. "Good. Go get the others. We're gonna fight." Buffy grabbed an axe from beside the kitchen counter, tossing a similar one to Faith.

"We gonna kill these guys off this time? I'm not big on losin' another person, B," Faith stated.

"We're losing no one. Every single vamp on that lawn is going to be dust by the time we're done with them." Buffy flung open the front door, not wanting to damage the house even more than it already was, to take the fight outside.

"Give us the vessel! The new being must die!" one of the vamps cried.

Buffy stepped forward. "Why don't you come and get her? Or are you afraid?" she taunted them. _Maybe not a good idea for taunting. I really don't want Dawn to get hurt. _And so the fight began; both Angel and Buffy's crews had mixed together and were fighting side by side. The only people missing were Tara, Willow, and Dawn.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Dawn asked. The witches shook their heads. "Oh. Okay. I'll just…sit here."

"_Platelet,_" a whispering voice called to her. Dawn looked towards the kitchen doorway, where the voice had come from. Her breath caught in her chest when she saw who it was.

"Spike?" Willow and Tara looked up. Dawn glanced back at them, then back at Spike, then back to them again. "Don't you see him?" They shook their heads. Dawn rose from her seat – with a slight struggle from the sudden weight gain she had experienced in the past few days. "Spike, is that you?"

Spike's ghost didn't respond. "_Platelet, your sister needs your help. You have to run out and help her._"

"But…I might get hurt…"

The ghost shook his head. "_No, don't worry. I'll protect you. Remember? I said I'd never let anything happen to you. Not again._" Dawn was assured that it was really Spike. No one else knew he had told her that. She hadn't told anyone.

"Okay. I'll go." She headed out the doorway and straight into the fight. No one on the good side had been killed; that was a good thing.

From behind her, Dawn felt two pairs of arms grab her arms to hold her back. "Buffy!" she screamed as she was shoved into a waiting car.

"Dawn!" Buffy yelled back as she ran after the car. But it was no use. Even the Slayer couldn't keep up with a car going seventy miles per hour. Dawn was gone.

Dawn's eyes stung with tears. "Spike tricked me," she muttered louder than she'd meant to.

One of her captors laughed. "You mean you actually thought that it was him? Now that's funny!"

The other one shook his head. "It's just a little matter of sorcery. You'd think someone like you would know that."

Dawn cried even harder, tears of pain from cramps mixed in with tears of hurt feelings. And then Dawn stopped crying. Something…had happened.

Her water had broken.


	16. chapter 16

A/N: I would like to apologize for the delay in getting this chapter posted. Everyone at Simply Buffy appreciates the reviews and support from all of you that have been reading this. There will be one more chapter after this!

Chapter 16

by AngelAddicted, aka idontknowu2

> > >

"Oh God. Oh God. Oh God." Dawn screeched.

One of her captures jerked his head around. "Would you shut your hole!"

"Oh God. Oh God. Oh God." She repeated.

"Uh-oh."

"Uh-Oh what?" The vampire driving questioned.

"She's leaking! That can't be good. What do we do? What do we do!"

The vampire started shuffled around the floorboard while still trying to drive. "Look for something to clean it up with. Her water broke. The baby's coming soon."

"There's nothing here!" The vampire in the passenger seat started to panic. "Oh God. Oh God. Oh God."

"Don't speak that name, Barbos! Do you know what Master would do if he heard that? Now, just breath."

Barbos leaned back in his seat. "He Hoo. He Hoo."

"No you, idiot. The girl." Dawn looked at both of them.

"I can't do this alone. I need my sister!"

> > >

Buffy limped over to Angel's car. "Who's driving me?" No one answered. "Come on!"

"Come on, B." Faith said, nearing her. "I know you want to save your sister. And, we do too. But, Willow and Tara haven't even figured out where to go. We have to know where we're going."

"Here!" Willow shouted, running outside. She was waving a piece of paper in her hand. "That's where most of the town's super natural energy is coming from."

"We suspect that's where Dawnie is," Tara finished.

Angel walked in front of Willow and snatched the piece of paper. "Let's go."

Buffy got into the passenger seat as Angel settled into the driver's seat. Willow and Wesley jumped into the back and Illyria followed. Faith made Buffy scoot over to the middle of the front seat as she squeezed in. Angel pulled out of the driveway and sped down the street with Giles, Tara, Xander, Anya and Gunn looking on.

"Guess we're backup again?" Xander looked at everyone.

Giles placed his glasses back on his face after cleaning them. "Come on." So everyone piled into Giles' car and followed Buffy and the others.

> > >

"You'll have to," The driver spoke. "Your sister's probably dead by now anyhow." The vampire pulled the car to an old rundown building. Barbos immediately jumped out and ran to the doors. "It's coming! The child is coming!"

"BARBOS!" The vampire shouted, trying to get Dawn out of the car.

"Right..."

Barbos ran over to help Dawn inside. They made their way inside and to Dawn's surprise, the place didn't look half bad. It actually looked pretty nice. Nothing like the outside. There as a couch, pool table, mini-kitchen, bathroom, and two bedrooms. Dawn was a bit confused: demons lived here. And the place looked...well, normal. An older female demon walked over to Dawn and gently guided her to her room as Dawn looked around the room, confused. They made their way into a fairly large room. It had a big bed, and a couple chairs in the room.

"NO!" Dawn said, struggling against the demons who were trying to get her into bed. "Just let me go! Please."

"Miss, please, just get in." A young woman spoke. "This is better than another place you could be. Would you rather be down in our basement, where Master wanted you in the first place? I told him your child's birth would come easier if you were comfortable. If you refuse, he will put you down there."

Dawn locked eyes with the woman. After realizing she would be better off here than in the basement, she made her way into the bed. After being settled in, the demons left the room. The woman was gathering up some pillows from the closet.

"You'll be giving birth soon," she said without looking at Dawn.

Dawn let out a heavy sigh. "Why are you...here? With..."

"Demons?" Dawn nodded. "They, the Master, saved me from some breed of demons that were trying to kill me. He said I could live if I worked for him. I think it's a fair trade, don't you?"

"No. I don't. You're a sla-."

"My child has arrived, I see," The Master shouted walking into the room.

Dawn's eyes filled with anger. "You're not getting my baby. This is my-ahhh!" Dawn was interrupted by a contraction. She screamed out in pain.

"Now now, dear. Don't stress. My child needs to be healthy if he's going to supply me with strength."

"Strength?" Dawn breathed. "Wha-what?" Her forehead wrinkled with confusion.

"Your child. Your wonderful child. He holds so much power. Power of The Destroyer-conceived by two vampires, and power of you, The Key. Do you know how much power that is, Dawn?" The Master of the vampires and demons made his way to Dawn's side. He brushed her hair from her face. "I can do so much more with that power. And I'll have you to thank for that." Dawn flinched at his touch.

"It's a 'she'! And you won't get her, dammit!"

"Shhh. This will all be over soon."

> > >

Angel had ignored lights and road signs the whole drive. But, he was forced to come to a stop as a trolley was passing.

Buffy's eyes were darting back and forth as they drove. Her mind was racing with thoughts.

_"It's a girl!" Willow shrieked._

_Anya came up behind Willow, who was holding the new baby. "I'm an aunt!"_

_Xander came up beside Anya, putting a hand on Willow and Anya's shoulders. "I'm an uncle!"_

_"Me too!" Gunn shouted, smiling big. Everyone looked at Gunn strangely. "What?" Gunn returned the look then leaned over everyone else to admire the new baby._

_"I do not understand the excitement for this burden." Illyria spoke, walking over to examine the child._

_"It's not a burden!" Tara, too, walked over to the new life. "It's an iddy widdy baby." She said, speaking in 'baby language.'_

_Angel came up to Willow and took the baby girl from her, gently. "She's beautiful, Dawn." He said, looking at the Dawn, then back at the baby. "Gimme Gimme." Dawn shouted. Angel smiled at the baby once more and handed her off to her mother. She cradled her in her arms._

_"I wanna hold her! Let me hold her!" Buffy commanded. She threw out her arms, but was surprised when the were chained to the wall, as were her legs. "Wa-what's going on? I wanna hold my niece!" Buffy began to wiggle in the chains. "Let me hold her!" She shouted again._

_Suddenly a hoard of vampires burst into the room. Everyone had weapons already in hand, and began fighting off the vampires. Quickly, it was black. When the lights came back on, only a second later all of Buffy's friends were lying on the ground dead. Dawn still held her baby in her arms, not noticing that they were being attacked. A large demon entered the room._

_"Bring me the child!" He shouted in a deep voice. A male vampire walked out from behind the demon and made his way toward Dawn._

_"No! You can't have her!" Buffy screamed trying to get out of the chains. Tears were quickly running down her face. She was breathing heavily. "Dawn! Protect her!"_

_Dawn still didn't look up from her child. The vampire reached for the it, and Dawn willingly let him remove her from her arms, still smiling at her daughter._

_"Dawn! What are you doing? Protect her!" Buffy was helpless._

_The vampire handed the child to his leader, who held her gently, almost swallowing the baby with his large arms. "My child...my beautiful daughter." He still held the child with one arm, when with the other he wiped out an ax and removed Dawn's head from her shoulders._

_"NOOOO!" Buffy cried. The demon disappeared with Dawn's child in tow. And the vampires soon scurried out of the room. Buffy's body fell limp, still chained to the wall. The chains clanked together as she cried._

"3,497." Illyria spoke.

Buffy shook her head as her thoughts were interrupted. "What?"

"The number of lines we've passed on the road, 3,497," she repeated, peering out of the car window.

Willow leaned forward and gave Illyria an odd look. Annoyed at not receiving a responce, Illyria turned back to the window to count the lines as the car started to move again.

> > >

"The doctor's here,"a vampire announced. " The Master stood up. "Good, good. Bring him in." Dawn's face was dampened from sweat and tears. A female vampire leaned over to wipe her forehead. "You're so lucky. Producing the child that will be a part in destroying humanity. I wish I were as fortunate as you." Dawn shot her a glare.

"My baby won't help destroy the world! I won't let it happen. Neither will my sister!" The vampire leaned back into her seat with a pout across her lips.

"So, who's the lucky one carrying the end of humanity?" A demon walked into the room carrying a doctor's bag and wearing a white jacket.

"Would you stop! I'm not gonna let you do this!" Dawn cried. The 'doctor' walked over to Dawn. He pressed his hand on her stomach. "Oh. That baby'll be comin' real soon now. You just relax and don't push until I tell ya' to. Ya hear?" Dawn sighed.

"I want a real doctor. Not some red-neck demon."

"This is a real doctor, Dawn." The Master said. "Mr. Landers is the best one in deliveries with rituals involved. You should thank him for coming all this way from the states. He said he wouldn't allow anyone else to deliver this baby. See, you're special."

Dawn opened her mouth but was once again interrupted. The doctor ran to the end of the bed. "Not yet. Remember Miss Summers, no pushing."

> > >

Angel's hands were clinched on the steering wheel. Buffy just had a blank face when he looked her. He reached down with his right handand placed it on hers. She turned to look at him and leaned her hand on his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around her to reassure her that everything was going to be fine.

> > >

Xander was quickly loading his gun with bullets.

"How you do that so fast? Been in the army or somethin'?" Gunn asked.

"Once. Well, no. It's a long story."

"Well, you doing that...with one eye and all. That's pretty tight." Xander looked at Gunn.

"Thanks. And you shine that sword nicely."

Gunn lifted the sword to observe his work, "Yeah, I do. Don't I? ... Hey." He said, placing the sword back onto his lap. "I uh, got your back incase anything goes...more wrong. Yanno-if you got mine."

"Yeah. I do." Xander said sticking out his hand to shake Gunn's.

"I got yo back too, homie." Anya piped up cheerfully. Gunn raised an eyebrow at her.

"Uh. Thanks."

> > >

"Where'd everyone go?" Dawn asked looking around at the few left in the room, the 'doctor' and a couple vamps. The Doctor looked up at her,

"Oh. They have to set up for the ritual. We all want this to be perfect and memorable. Get ready, almost time to push."

"I can't. I don't want to." Dawn panicked.

"You have to, Miss. Summers. The Master needs your child, he needs your child."

"For what? Why won't you tell me anything?" she said in frustration.

"Blood." he doctor said, annoyed. "He needs the blood."

"My sister's not gonna let you take her. Or our friends. They won't either!"

"Shut up already!" Barbos said, stepping into the room. "You sound like a broken record."

The Master walked into the room and stuck a stake thru Barbos's chest and watched him burst into dust. He put his hands behind his back and walked closer to Dawn.

"Dawn, no one's here to help you. Not your sister. Your friends. Connor. No one. You're all alone."

Dawn shook her head in denial as tears filled her eyes again.

"You'll be having another contraction soon." As he spoke, she did. She grabbed the sheets of the bed and began to tense up.

The doctor rolled his chair closer to the end of the bed. "Time to start pushing."

The Master had a grin plastered on his lips. "Right on time. All is going as planned."

> > >

TBC!


	17. chapter 17

Author's note: On behalf of everyone at the Simply Buffy Guild a great big thanks to all those who have reviewed and for reading this fic. We appreciated it greatly. Okay, last chapter written by me, Kitty aka. Sanityfair on fanfiction net or kittybeenbad for most other places.

> > >

Dawn stared listlessly at the door of the bedroom she was in, expecting it to burst open at any moment. She was tired and it took every ounce of strength in her to just sit up, but she felt compelled to watch. And to wait. Her shoulders shook with the sobs she tried hard to keep from jetting out. Her sister would come, she knew deep down inside that at any moment that door would be open. Trumpets blaring. Guns a blazin'.

But, what if she didn't come? What if Buffy was too late and her baby was... Oh God...her baby. Those monsters! They took him! Her baby...she had pushed and pushed and then her little boy. Her baby boy...they took him! Oh God... She shook her head to push the thoughts out of head before taking to staring at the door once more. Buffy would come and then everything would be okay, that's all that mattered.

MEANWHILE

The Master stared down at the human child, each of it's features delicate, so very fragile. But, there was power here. From such a frail pathetic thing such power emitted. It was a conundrum he did not want to think about. What he wanted to think about now was what he would be doing with that power.

"S-sir?"

He snarled at the sound that broke into the other wise quiet room and turned to whoever had spoken. It was just a vampire minion. He made a mental note to get better minions when he had all he needed to rule this world. Perhaps he could enslave the human race as a whole. Or was that too cliche? In any case for now it was all that he had and so he would have to make due.

"What is it?" The Master snapped as he held the human child closer to him. The young human stirred slightly but The Master didn't care nor did the baby do much else. Curiously it seemed calm even in the grips of such a monstrous demon.

"The girl...Dawn. What do we do with her?" The vampire asked bowing low as its eyes melted into the ground for fear of making eye contact with the 'oh so powerful Master'.

"Hmmm," The Master mused, running a long finger against the side of his chin as he hoisted the baby up slightly. "Bring her to me. It would only be fair that she watch the ritual. And then when it is over... we shall kill her."

MEANWHILE

_Buffy will come. I know she will._ Dawn's mind raced in overdrive as she continued to stared at the door; each second more agonizing then the rest. She had to be strong. It's what Buffy would do, what Connor would have wanted. And if nothing else...she had to be strong for her baby's sake.

"Dawn..."

Her eyes widened at the voice. She knew that voice. It was...

"Connor?" She asked turning around with great effort as she searched for the visual to the sound.

"Dawn." Connor said stepping out from the shadows.

She drew back in fear remembering all too well what had happened the last time she fell into one of these tricks. But, something was different. Maybe it was her over imagination or she was dreaming this or because she was so tired from childbirth. But, this seemed so real.

"It's not you," She said finally.

He smiled, his eyes sparkling slightly as he looked over at her. He took a tentative step forward and then spoke once more. "They told me you wouldn't believe it was me."

"They?" Dawn asked leaning away from him as he stepped toward her.

"The Powers," he said with a small head nod. "They're giving me this one chance."

"One chance?" she asked shaking her head in confusion. She looked over at Connor. This had to be real, it just had to be. When she looked into his eyes she could see him. Her love. The father of her... no... their child. "One chance to do what?"

"To say goodbye," he said taking the last remaining steps to get near her bed.

"G-Goodbye?" Dawn asked quietly, the tears beginning to swell in her eyes.

He nodded, taking her hands in his as he leaned forward and kissed her softly on the lips. Cold! He was so very cold. It made her recoil at first, but then she looked in his eyes again. She knew it was him, it was her Connor. Connor! The baby...

"The baby," she said in near panic, "Connor, we have to get the baby. T-They took him a-and...oh God.."

"Shhh," he hushed wrapping her into a tight hug, "Dawn, you'll get him back. I promise you. I'll always be beside you, always. And you're both going to be happy and have the best life, the life I couldn't give you. I love you Dawn. I love you."

Dawn blinked a few times. Connor was gone! She jerked her head around to see where the love of her life had gone to. He was really gone. For the second time her life he was taken from her. She put her head in her hands, but there were no tears to come. She was too drained to do anything but stare into the palms of her hands. She suddenly heard a loud click and looked up sharply as the door was opened. As soon as she saw who it was she screamed.

MEANWHILE

"Buffy wait," Angel yelled as the blonde slayer broke free of the seatbelt and then bolted toward the building. He watched her retreating back as he ran after her, "At least wait for us!"

Faith, Willow, and Wesley all ran up behind Angel and they were all flanked by Illyria who walked calmly towards her party.

"It's locked," Buffy yelled in frustration as she waved toward the door. She studied the side panel and realized that a code would be needed. A code that they obviously didn't have.

"Pffft, when have we cared about locked doors B'?"

Buffy waved toward the code panel.

"Oh..."

"We have to find another way in," Angel said.

"Perhaps there's a side door," Wesley suggested.

"Or a back door," Willow said.

"Out of my way incompetent weaklings," Illyria said as she finally joined them. Rolling their eyes a bit the group moved to the side as Illyria walked up and unceremoniously ripped the door from it's metal hinges and through it to the side.

"Well, that's one way of doing it," Angel said as they ran inside.

MEANWHILE

"Giles go faster," Anya yelled.

"I'm trying if you would just..."

"Hey, this is the turn only lane," Xander observed.

"I think you missed the exit," Tara said.

"Come on, I know this hunk of junk can do at least 90," Gunn added.

"Bloody hell, if you all would allow me to concentrate," Giles said, trying to maneuver himself into the right lane.

"Oh my God. Look out for that.."

MEANWHILE

"Ah Dawn. How nice of you to join us," The Master said as he held the now struggling baby over the altar.

"My baby!" Dawn yelled, "Give me back my baby you son of a bi..."

"Manners!" The Master yelled cutting her off, "You should thank your lucky stars that I'm allowing you to witness the inevitable destruction of your pathetic race. Now, can you think of two little words to say to that." Grinning widely the Master mouthed 'Thank you' to help her out.

Dawn just narrowed her eyes and said, "How about Fu..."

"No," Buffy said stepping out from the shadows as Angel, Faith, Wesley, Willow and Illryia followed suit. "I can think of two words you're thinking of right now," she said to the Master.

"Kill them!" The Master yelled to his vampire minion.

"Bingo," Buffy said, ducking as the nearest vampire threw a punch her way.

Dawn scrambled to get to her baby as The Master tried to run to the door just as Illyria walked up and blocked it. The Master grinned, thinking that the strange blue creature would be no match for him until Illyria backhanded a vampire trying to grab her into and then through a wall. The Master gulped and turned around, but found an very angry Dawn and Angel staring him down as they inched closer.

Buffy, Faith, Willow, and Wesley all kept the vampire populous down. Wesley and Willow worked more as a team, using magicks and each other as leverage to take out the vampires while Buffy and Faith went solo with their task. Soon there was nothing but bone and ash littering the floor as Buffy took a deep breath and walked over to her sister, making sure she was okay.

"Is that all you got?" Faith asked as she crossed her arms and the whole group cornered the master.

"Might as well give up," Willow said, "Because the way I see it..."

"You're screwed," Angel added.

"Don't come any closer," The Master said holding the baby up. "I'll kill the child!"

"You'll do no such thing," A voice said from behind them.

The Group turned around to see a much larger demon walking toward him. There was no time to gasp or act surprised as the group readied for what looked like a major battle.

"Who are you?" Buffy asked taking her slayer stance.

"I am Nephi 'Ah 'ka 'la, ruler of a dimension not unlike your own," The demon said.

"Okay, I'll buy it. So what the hell do you want?" Angel asked.

"What's mine," the demon said, turning its attention to the Master, "I sent- banished you here to destroy this world. You spent so much time worrying about power that you did not heed the rules."

"The rules?" Buffy asked in confusion.

"The rules of war," Illyria said looking over at Nephi 'Ah' 'ka 'la, "You were defeated once, were you not."

"Ah Illyria, it's nice to see you too," The demon said with a slight scowl, "Yes, in rule you are forthright, you head into battle knowing you will loose or you will win. Striving for the latter. You do not play petty games of hiding and attacking when your opponent is unaware. Zinihila, you have failed me. You have shamed our race and there will be much punishment for you back in our world. Now give the baby back and come here."

"B-But," The Master said ducking his head and clutching the baby tighter.

"NOW!" The demon bellowed.

Reluctantly The Master handed over the baby to Dawn who instantly began to calm her child and sob into its tiny head. The two masters then disappeared into a brilliant white flash of light leaving everyone standing there looking at each other

"Does anyone else feel drunk?" Faith asked, still a little perplexed over what just happened.

"I just feel tired," Willow said.

"Agreed," Wesley said.

"I'm just glad this is over with," Buffy said wrapping and arm around her sister and looking down at her nephew. "He's beautiful. What are you naming him?"

"Connor Liam Summers," Dawn said as she clothed the baby in her jacket.

"That's a wonderful name," Angel said quickly swiping his eyes a few times.

Suddenly there was a loud crash and everyone turned around expecting the worst. What they got however, was Giles, Gunn, Xander, Tara and Anya racing into the room carrying weapons and looking around for the villians.

"We're here!" Xander announced.

"You're too late," Dawn said with a chuckle. "We've already won."

"I told you we were moving to slow!" Anya said, punching Giles in the arm.

"Owww!"

"Come on," Buffy said, guiding her sister, "Let's go home."

They all crowded around Dawn and led her protectively as they made their way outside, putting their problems and the woes over those they lost into the 'until the world needs saving again' category.

THE END


End file.
